🥤 Şalgam (fermented turnip juice)
Şalgam is a deep purple, sour and salty drink made by fermenting purple carrots and turnip with a little bulgur, salt and water. It is tangy and savoury, closer to pickle brine than to fruit juice, and is often made spicy with chili. It is drunk cold alongside kebabs, especially Adana kebab, and is sold by the glass with a slice of pickled carrot.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g purple carrots, cut into sticks
- 1 small turnip, sliced
- 50 g coarse bulgur
- 2 tbsp salt
- 2 l water
- Hot chili flakes (optional)
Method
- Tie the bulgur in a piece of muslin, soak it in 500 ml warm water for a few hours and squeeze out the liquid.
- Put the carrots and turnip in a large jar and pour over the bulgur liquid, the remaining water and the salt.
- Cover loosely and leave at room temperature for 3–5 days until sour.
- Strain, add chili if liked, chill and serve cold.
How to make it lighter
- It is very low in calories, so it is an easy swap for sweet sodas with a kebab.
- Watch the salt if you drink several glasses.
- Ask for the non-spicy version if you are not used to the heat.
History
Şalgam is a speciality of southern Turkey, particularly Adana, Mersin and the Çukurova plain, where it is drunk with grilled meat and is now also produced commercially in bottles.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →