1 April, 2013
Khyar b Laban
Posted in : Cold Meza (Mezze Appetizers), Dips and side dishes, Recipes, Salads, Vegetarian on by : el Meza
Yogurt Cucumber Salad (or Dip)
Khyar b Laban is a smooth, healthy and very refreshing salad or dip. It accompanies well the Kibbeh and many other dishes such as Zingol. Its main ingredients are yogurt, cucumbers, garlic, mint and salt. We have this dish as a common appetizer during hot days, and during spring time in Lebanon, when in season, we prepare it using fresh local yogurt made from goat milk, which gives it a richer deeper taste. It’s such an amazing and super easy to make dish that is also common to find in different variations in Turkish and Persian restaurants (aka Masto Khiar). Our greek cousins have an offshoot that they call Tzatzki Dip.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Diet type: Vegetarian
Diet tags: High protein
Number of servings (yield): 4
Culinary tradition: Middle Eastern
Ingredients
- 4 lebanese cucumbers (or equivalent), chopped or sliced.
- 4 cups of plain yogurt
- 1/2 cup of water
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- a few leaves of green mint finely chopped, or 1 teaspoon of dried mint powder
- a dash of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice (optional)
Preparation Method
In a bowl, whisk the yogurt, water, crushed garlic, salt and lemon juice well. If you’re preparing this in summer, you can add 2-3 ice cubes in the mix to cool the yogurt and make it even more refreshing
Finely Chop the cucumbers into cubes of ~ 1/3 inches or slice yhem down, add to the mixing bowl.
Add the finely chopped green mint or the dried mint powder and salt, mix well.
Serve in small soup bowls.