Thursday 6 June 2013

Fresh Yoghurt Cucumber Sauce with Dill


From Turkey: The Turkish Kitchen, Miller Books, 2008.
I felt that this would be a good accompaniment for the roasted butternut squash.
Though I used this recipe as a basis, I mixed items purely by feel and not measuring out quantities until I had a mixture that I felt comfortable with. 

I grated a piece of cucumber and let it drain in a colander while I prepared the rest of the ingredients. I took a small piece of a garlic clove and pounded it with a little salt until it had taken on a paste-like consistency. This was far less garlic than the recipe called for but I find that raw garlic can sometimes be a little too harsh and overpowers the rest of the ingredients. I mixed the garlic into some yoghurt—the amount that I needed for the meal. Next I squeezed the cucumber as dry as possible and also mixed it in.

A few sprigs of dill were finely diced and added with a little olive oil and black pepper and salt. When the sauce tasted right I placed it in a bowl and sprinkled over it a little chopped mint and a few dribbles of extra virgin olive oil.
I was pleased with the mixture. It was well flavoured and accompanied the other items in the meal. Probably I now would continue to make yoghurt sauces by feel rather than by measuring.
Taste: ✔✔✔✔
Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

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