Tzatziki: The quintessential Greek dip.

Serves 4

The first thing that springs to mind when I think of Greek food, is Tzatziki. And with good reason. It’s delicious. However, it’s not unique to Greece. Tzatziki can be found across south-eastern Europe and the middle east.

Greek Yoghurt

Traditionally, the yoghurt for Tzatziki is strained to remove the extra whey. The result is a thicker yoghurt, sold in shops nowadays as Greek Yoghurt. It’s important to use Greek yoghurt because natural unstrained yoghurt will be too thin, resulting in a watery dip.

The sauce will begin to thin out as it mixes with the other ingredients. However, it can be made thicker by refrigerating before serving for around 30 minutes.

Cucumber

The key to this Tzatziki recipe is dry cucumber. First, grate the cucumber on the large grate side of a box grater and drain. The cucumber will lose a lot of its weight as its 90% water, and most of it will escape during grating.

The excess liquid will then need to be squeezed out or we’ll end up with a thin, watery puddle of yoghurt and not a thick, creamy Tzatziki.  Using a clean kitchen towel or cheesecloth, enclose the cucumber inside it, and squeeze it over a sink. Do this repeatedly until the water begins to run dry.

Ingredients

200ml Greek Yoghurt, Deseeded

½ Cucumber

5g Mint, Finely Chopped

1 Garlic Clove, Finely Chopped

Juice of ½ Lemon

Salt / Pepper

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Pitta Bread to serve

Cucumber Sticks to serve

Method

1. Grate the cucumber using the large side of a box grater and squeeze dry.
2. In a bowl, combine the yoghurt, dry cucumber, mint, and garlic.
3. Add lemon juice and stir until combined. Season to taste.
4. Spoon into a serving dish, and drizzle with oil. Serve with the pitta, and vegetable sticks.