This is the best yogurt dip ever | Middle East and North Africa | National Dish Recipe

Wayne @NationalDish — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 00:19:04 +0000

The best yogurt dip ever – this really is easy – you could adapt it in many ways too – bowl of this and some flat breads, you’ll be well happy and so will your chums.

I was cooking up some Moroccan Lamb the other day and wanted the best yogurt dip ever to go with all the flatbread and spice action.

This isn’t from Morocco, but who cares, it’s amazing – I’d say it was Middle Eastern, leaning toward Israel.

It’s nutty with Pomegranate – so a crunchy mutha – the textures are really fun.

The best yogurt dip ever - here's how you make it

This thing is so quick and easy, don't feel that you need it to go with something, it would make a great appetiser or just whip it out when your buddies are round for drinks.

CourseDips and bits, Side Dish, Starter
CuisineMiddle Eastern

Servings6 People

Prep Time20 Minutes

Cook Time5 Minutes

Ingredients

1massive tub Greek yogurtget as much as you want to serve, it goes real fast, so be generous
1large handful almondskeep em whole, we're gonna toast them
1whole pomegranateremove the seeds (you can buy them pre-prepped if you want)
1good handful mintyou want fresh mint leave, chopped
half cucumberslice it length ways and with a teaspoon deseed it - then chop. Leave some as half moons on the side - see pic
1good pinch sea salt flakesonly Maldon will do
good quality rape seed oilyou can use good olive oil if you like, either way - ONLY USE THE GOOD STUFF

Instructions

Get a frying pan on a medium high heat and throw in all of the almonds. Keep em moving from time to time, you just want them to catch a little but not burn - defo some charring. Keep an eye on them whilst you do the rest.
Get a mixing bowl, you won't serve it in this, and put all the yogurt in with a good pinch of salt.
Prep your cucumber (chop it chunky and hold back a handful of half moons on the side), pomegranate and mint leaves. Check your almonds - don't burn them!
Get a mortar and pestle and smash up 1/2 of the almonds - rough, not fine - we want chunks. Add them to the remaining whole almonds and then add 2/3 of the lot to the yogurt along with the 2/3 of the mint and 2/3 of the chopped cucumber. That will leave you with 1/3 as a mix of whole and smashed almonds, 1/3 each of the mint and cucumber - will make sense at the end.
Now add 2/3 of the pomegranate and gently fold. The reason for this is that you want to keep the yogurt white and avoid turning it pink - you might be thinking, ooh - I'll make mine pink. Don't! You'll only get annoyed with yourself.
Now you should have a white, mixed-through dip. Now grab a nice looking bowl of a decent size and gently pour the mixture in to it - try not to make a mess if you want it to look good.
Take the remaining mint, almonds mix, pomegranate and cucumber and in any order you like, from a height, sprinkle it over the top - covering as much as possible. Follow that with a generous pinch of Sea Salt and then a generous drizzle of golden virgin Rape Seed oil.
Serve with flat breads of all kinds. Immense.
Thank you Israel

The post This is the best yogurt dip ever | Middle East and North Africa | National Dish Recipe appeared first on National Dish.

Fig tree to fork Israeli Spicy Fig Chutney | What is the national dish of Israel?

Wayne @NationalDish — Sat, 12 Aug 2017 21:54:01 +0000

Fresh figs straight from the tree and into a spicy chutney for cheese.
Photograph: Wayne Morgan – nationaldish.co.uk © 2017

In sunless England we don’t generally manage to grow exotic ingredients and whilst figs grow well (I grew these myself), they tend not to be as sweet as sunnier climates. So what to do with them. Quartered and covered in honey is stunning, but, make a savoury fig chutney out of them you’d better keep an eye on them, because they are about to elope with all your cheese and get married.

Israeli Fig Chutney | איור צ'אטני

If you want to keep this, you'll need to sterilise some jam jars and their lids or it can be eaten straight away (once it's cooled, obvs) and will last a couple of days in the fridge. This also best made the day before you need it.

CourseDips and bits, Side Dish
CuisineIsraeli, Middle Eastern

Servings3 Normal sized jam jars

Prep Time15 Minutes

Cook Time45 Minutes

Passive Time30 Minutes

Ingredients

250ml red wine
10whole figsstalks removed and roughly chopped
1medium red onionsliced
2 tangerinespeeled, seeds removed and roughly chopped
250ml water
1 star anise
1good sprig rosemary
2tbls honeythe runny stuff
1tsp garlic powder
2tsp cayenne pepperwant less of a kick use less cayenne
1tsp ground ginger
2 bay leaves

Instructions

First of all, pick the figs (or take them out of the packaging. If you are picking your timeframe is short - if it looks almost ready you can expect the insects to get to it by morning. Ready is when a drop of juice is appearing at the bottom.
Start by reducing the red wine in a saucepan, bring it to the boil and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
Whilst that's doing, chop up with the figs and tangerines and have your other ingredients on standby.
When the wine is ready lob everything in to the pot with the water and stir whilst bring back to the boil.
Let it simmer for about half an hour, until the liquid has reduced and thickened and then turn off the heat and let it cool. When cooled remove the rosemary, star anise and bay leaves.
If preserving, using ultra clean hands and a spoon, fill the jars, put lids on and refrigerate. If you're gonna eat it that day or tomorrow - put in a bowl, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate. It's best served chilled.
Thank you Israel

תודה לישראל

The post Fig tree to fork Israeli Spicy Fig Chutney | What is the national dish of Israel? appeared first on National Dish.

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This is the best yogurt dip ever | Middle East and North Africa | National Dish Recipe

Fig tree to fork Israeli Spicy Fig Chutney | What is the national dish of Israel?