Turkish Chilli Chicken Soup (Terbiyeli Pirinçli Tavuk Çorbası)

Place the water, chicken, onion, carrots, parsley, bay leaves, black peppercorns and salt in a large pot over a medium–high heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the meat separates from the end of the leg bone.

Remove the chicken from the pot and strain the broth, discarding the vegetables. Pour the broth back into the pot, add the rice and simmer gently for 5–7 minutes, or until the rice is almost tender.

When the chicken is cool, using your hands, shred the meat into small pieces and discard the bones. Set the meat aside.

While the rice is cooking, combine the oil, butter, tomato paste, chili paste, flour and mint in a small pan and cook over a medium heat, stirring, for 1–2 minutes until combined and slightly darker in color.

Scrape the mixture into the soup, then add the chicken and chickpeas. Return the soup to a gentle simmer and cook for another 3–4 minutes until the rice is tender.

Season with lemon juice and salt to taste and serve.