Tzatziki-- In Greek: τζατζίκι, pronounced dza-DZEE-kee Re-Post

At first, I had no clue about Greek cuisine and I also had no plan to find out any more about it- I didn't expect there to be anything for me in this foreign cuisine...The only Greek food that I had heard of was, unsurprisingly, Greek yogurt! ...This was until we went on a summer holiday to the beautiful Greek island, Crete... The island bore stunning golden sandy beaches and tranquil blue waters... The hotel was 4 star and most of all, the glorious sunshine was the icing on the cake :)

From Crete, we took a day excursion to Santorini, where the famous films, Chalte Chalte and Wanted, had some of their songs shot.

In that week, when we were baking ourselves in pure bliss, one of the animation team members came up to us, and disturbed us from our moments of happiness :(  :

A- "Hallo, would you like to come to our greek cooking classes?" (imagine a european accent here :))

Me - "What?! I came here to take a break from cooking" (imagine a british accent here :))

A- "Well it isn't your normal cooking, you might learn something new" (loool)

So.. I had to agree and also dragged my daughter along!

When I got there, they told us that they are making cucumber dip called Tzatziki.  To me, this sounded something suspiciously like cucumber raita, until the chef unveiled his secret and we found out that this is no ordinary dip. Garlic and extra virgin olive oil in large amounts were the secret surprises!

"Tzatziki is traditionally served as an appetizer and can be left on the table as an accompaniment to foods throughout the meal. The key to great tzatziki is the thick creamy texture that allows it to be eaten alone, as a dip, as a spread, and as a condiment."

You will need:

• thick Greek yogurt - 1 cup (if not avaliable, hang the yogurt)
• Garlic cloves finely chopped - 6-7 cloves
• Extra virgin olive oil - 4 tbsp
• Cucumber grated- 1/4 cup
• Dill finely chopped - 1/4 cup
• salt to taste

Method:
First, mix the salt and grated cucumber and leave for 2-3 mins (this step is important as the salt helps to remove the moisture from the cucumber).  Mix in all of the other ingredients into the yogurt. From the cucumber, press out all the water and add into the yogurt, mix it well and chill for half an hour.


Serve it with your choice of food :)

Sending this to PJ's guest event Flavour's of Greece, brain child of Nayna