Tzatziki. Zatziki. Tatziki. Ok wait... Its Tzatziki!! Now repeat it really quickly before you forget the hang of it..again! ;)
Its such a great dip..Its of Greek origin but hey world's my oyster and I believe in soaking the best of all cultures, so here s my tribute to the amazing land of Greece!!
Tzatztiki by itself is simply wonderful, its fresh. full of flavors. Uncomplicated yet has a depth. easy to make and a perfect accompaniment for most barbecues, chips , grilled fish dishes!
I can't get over how good it tastes, especially when you add a teeny weeny bit of roasted garlicky goodness to it!
Now now.. I know the traditional tzatziki recipe calls for garlic..not roasted garlic..but hey unless you try new things, you will never realize there is something better out there!
No offence to the Greeks! :P
So here is my version..Use it as a dip with chips, fries or the amazing hassleback potatoes like me. Man! Were those to die for!!!
http://lapetitchef.blogspot.in/2014/08/hassleback-potatoes.html
Get started on this :
Ingredients:
1 cup Greek Yogurt (or regular plain yogurt, strained )
juice of one lemon (about 3 T)
2 roasted garlic cloves, chopped
1 medium cucumbers, seeded and diced
salt
1 T finely chopped fresh dill (can substitute mint leaves,parsley for a slightly different version)
fresh ground black pepper to taste
Method:
If you don't have Greek yogurt, strain plain yogurt for 2 hrs till it reaches a thick consistency.
Peel cucumbers, then cut in half lengthwise and take a small spoon and scrape out seeds. Discard seeds. (If you use the small seedless or European cucumbers with few seeds, you can skip this step.) Slice cucumbers, then put in a colander, sprinkle on 1 T salt, and let stand for 30 minutes to draw out water. Drain well and wipe dry with paper towel.
In food processor with steel blade, add cucumbers, roasted garlic, lemon juice, dill, and a few grinds of black pepper. Process until well blended, then stir this mixture into the yogurt. Taste before adding any extra salt, then salt if needed.
Place in refrigerator for at least two hours before serving so flavors can blend. (This resting time is very important.)
Garnish with a few dices of cucumber and chopped parsley!
This will keep for a few days or more in the refrigerator, but you will need to drain off any water and stir each time you use it.
For the Roasted Garlic :
I love the taste and aroma of roasted garlic in pretty much every
thing I have, I thought about trying this version too. Which, to no
surprise turned out to be as awesome as I thought it would be.
Roasting Garlic is a tiny bit of time taking job if you are doing that in oven. I usually plan ahead and roast garlic if I am baking something, to throw in together into the oven. But if you dont have time to do that, it can always be done on a roasting griddle.
You need 1 whole garlic, drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt.
In the same oven that you are baking the potatoes, throw in the garlic,drizzled over with the olive oil and salt..let it bake for 50 mins till roasted thoroughly..
cut it in half..take out 2 cloves , chop and use for the dip.
Love,
S :)