Dry tarhana has a texture of coarse, uneven crumbs, and it is usually made into a thick soup with water, stock, or milk.

Small pieces of dough are prepared and dried and then kept in glass containers and used mostly in soups, dissolving in hot liquids.

Hill and Bryer suggest that the term tarhana is related to Greek τρακτόν (trakton, romanized as tractum),[2] a thickener Apicius wrote about in the 1st century CE which most other authors consider to be a sort of cracker crumb.

The fermentation produces lactic acid and other compounds giving tarhana its characteristic sour taste and good keeping properties: the pH is lowered to 3.4–4.2, and the drying step reduces the moisture content to 6–10%, resulting in a medium inhospitable to pathogens and spoilage organisms, while preserving the milk proteins.

[9] In Albania, it is made with wheat flour and yoghurt into small pasta-like chunks which are dried and crushed; the powder is used to cook a soup which is served with bread cubes.