Cacik

Submitted by Allea

"I love this stuff. When I was in Turkey, I remember eating it with kebabs but I also saw people just eating it with a spoon. I saw a couple of other recipes like this but the technique is a little different hence the post. I found recipe in "Mediterranean Street Food" by Anissa Helou but have adjusted it to how I remember eating it. The cook time is the time you let the grated cucumber set."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 5
• Serves: 2-4

ingredients

• 1 cucumber
• salt
• 8 ounces plain yogurt
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 teaspoon dried dill or 1 teaspoon mint

directions

1. Finely grate cucumber. Put grated cucumber in a colander and sprinkle with a little salt. Let sit for about 30 minutes, this will help get the excess water out of the cucumber.
2. With your hands, squeeze the excess water out of the cucumber.
3. Put into a bowl and mix in yogurt and dill or mint. Enjoy!
4. While in Turkey, I don't really remember it having dill or mint but have found I like it with either one. Also, I add two cloves of garlic and I am well into garlicky flavor.

Reviews

[serim11]

I needed to put my two cents. I am from Istanbul and have eaten thousands of cacik in hundreds of Turkish places in my life. Cacik is supposed to have water in it, more liquid-er than your recipe, but a bit thicker than ayran. I mean it is not thick in consistency like a dip. It is a bit watery, which is why people drink it like a soup on the side in individual small bowls. And there is also a little bit olive oil dribbled on top of it at the very end.

 

[oloschiavo]

Allea, this is the method I use for making cacik. I find Greek yoghurt just tops it off perfectly... so creamy and delicious...

 

[bethhayley]

I didn't use the quantities right, I just piled it in and it was great! I used mint because that's how I had it in Keffalonia. It was really quick to make, I didn't leave the cucumber to sit in the colander; I just squeezed it. This could be nice in a salad and I'm going to try it in sarnies :)