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Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Iranian Cocktail

This is a steal, really, from Irish uber-cook Myrtle Allen, who appears to have picked up the idea from a trip she made to Tehran in the Shah’s time, although I’ve made small changes over the years. It appears to be a simplified version of an Iranian soup, ‘Mast va khiar’, which also includes chopped cucumber, sultanas, onion, parsley, dill, eggs and walnut. That’s a pretty rich soup: the simpler ‘Iranian cocktail’ is still delicious and lighter altogether: a subtle hot weather starter.

Ingredients

  • 250g tomatoes, skinned, deseeded & chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 500ml yoghurt
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Zest of 1 lemon

Mash the garlic and salt together into a paste and then puree the peeled tomatoes and the garlic mixture in a blender. Add the yoghurt, lemon zest and mint to the blender and blend well. Garnish with a pinch of paprika, pepper or cumin. Or all three! Serve in a small bowl, along with toasted french bread slices or crostini sticks.

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