Basic Yogurt Sauce

- Total Time
- 5 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1cup Greek-style yogurt, preferably whole milk yogurt (8 ounces/225 grams)
- 2tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint leaves
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2tablespoons lime juice (from 1 large lime), more to taste
- ½teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1garlic clove
Preparation
- Step 1
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together yogurt, mint, oil, lime juice, salt and 1 to 2 tablespoons water. Use a rasp grater to finely grate garlic into the bowl. Stir, taste and adjust salt and lime juice as needed. Cover and refrigerate leftovers for up to 5 days.
- To make Persian cucumber yogurt, stir in ½ cup minced, peeled cucumber (about ½ Persian cucumber), 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro and 1 tablespoon finely chopped dill. Serve alongside grilled chicken, fish or lamb. Thin with a little water and drizzle over sliced tomatoes for a simple salad.
- To make carrot raita, substitute 3 tablespoons cilantro for mint and add ½ cup peeled, grated carrot (about 1 small carrot) and half a small jalapeño pepper, minced. Sizzle 1 tablespoon cumin seeds in 1 tablespoon ghee or neutral oil until seeds begin to pop, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir into yogurt. Serve with lamb or vegetable curries. Spoon atop spicy chickpeas, basmati rice, or roast salmon. Thin with a little water and drizzle over roasted beets, carrots and fennel.
Private Notes
Comments
Adding sumac to this takes it from good to outstanding.
Your tzatziki... my raita... like you said.. all variations always yummy
Laura dear, this suggestion elevates you to my kitchen hero of the day. I adore sumac. I'll be za'atar would be good, too!
perfect basic sauce; served with lemon/garlic chicken kabobs
This sauce is perfect. I have made it 3 times now, not using the cucumber but just the basic sauce. It gets even better after a day or two in the fridge. I think the tip on grating garlic rather than chopping makes a big difference. I use exactly 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice.
Use lemon instead of lime.