Haydari

Strained until it holds a ridge, and no cucumber goes in — which is what separates it from the thinner yoghurt dishes.

Not vegetarian — contains cheese whose rennet the source does not name.

Ingredients

• 800 g full-fat yoghurt
• 100 g white cheese, crumbled
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste with salt
• a large bunch of dill, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried mint
• salt

to serve

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes

Method

1. IT IS STRAINED UNTIL IT HOLDS A RIDGE, AND NO CUCUMBER GOES IN. Both halves matter. Eight hundred grams of yoghurt hung in a cloth overnight comes down to perhaps five hundred of something thick enough that a spoon drawn across it leaves a mark that stays. And there is no cucumber and no water -- which is precisely what distinguishes it from the thinner, looser yoghurt dishes it sits beside on the same table. Those are refreshing and spoonable; this is dense, salty and sharp, and it is scooped with bread rather than eaten with a spoon. Unstrained yoghurt with dill in it is a perfectly nice thing and it is not this.
2. IT IS HUNG, NOT PRESSED. Into a muslin or a clean cloth, tied, and suspended over a bowl in the fridge overnight -- eight to twelve hours. Weighting it down forces whey through unevenly and gives a grainy texture; hanging lets it drain by gravity and the result is smooth.
3. THE GARLIC IS CRUSHED TO A PASTE WITH SALT, NOT CHOPPED. Three cloves with a pinch of salt, worked to a smooth paste with the flat of a knife. Chopped garlic in a thick cold yoghurt stays as distinct hot pieces; a paste disperses and the whole thing tastes evenly of garlic.
4. THE WHITE CHEESE IS WHAT MAKES IT SAVOURY ENOUGH. A hundred grams crumbled and mashed in. It brings salt and a faint tang that strained yoghurt alone does not have, and it also stiffens the texture further.
5. IT RESTS FOR AN HOUR BEFORE SERVING AND IS NOT WHIPPED. Folded together with a spoon and left in the fridge for an hour so the garlic and dill come through. Beaten or blended, strained yoghurt breaks down and goes slack -- and once it has slackened there is no getting the body back.
6. THE OIL IS POURED ON IN A WELL AT THE END. A dip pressed into the surface with the back of a spoon and the oil and pepper pooled in it. Stirred in, the oil loosens the mixture, which is the one thing the straining was for.
7. The yoghurt spooned into a muslin or clean cloth, tied, and HUNG over a bowl in the fridge 8 to 12 HOURS. Not weighted.
8. The drained whey thrown away. It should hold a ridge when a spoon is drawn across it.
9. The garlic crushed to a SMOOTH PASTE with a pinch of salt using the flat of a knife.
10. The cheese crumbled and mashed with a fork.
11. The strained yoghurt, cheese, garlic paste, dill, dried mint and 2 tablespoons of olive oil FOLDED together with a spoon. NOT whipped or blended.
12. Salted to taste.
13. Covered and rested in the fridge 1 HOUR.
14. Spread in a shallow dish, a WELL pressed into the surface with the back of a spoon.
15. The remaining oil and the Aleppo pepper pooled in the well.
16. TESTED: a spoon drawn across should leave a ridge that stays. If it closes up, it needed longer hanging.
17. Scooped with bread. Keeps 3 days.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Turkey · All recipes