Talatouri is a traditional Cypriot sauce, very similar to tzatziki, but with two key differences- talatouri is made with fresh or dried mint and uses lemon juice instead of vinegar. This a very simple and easy recipe, but in order to achieve the perfect texture you have to pay attention to the details. Grate the cucumber, using the large holes of the grater and dry it really well. We want to remove as much of the moisture of the pulp as possible, so that the talatouri remains creamy. Mash the garlic into a fine paste (at a minimum, mince the garlic very fine)- this will make sure the talatouri isn’t lumpy and you don’t get a mouthful of raw garlic.
This recipe makes 2 cups.
Ingredients:
- ½ large English cucumber (seedless cucumber), peeled
- 1 tbsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 2 cups plain full-fat Greek yogurt
- 3 tbsp. finely chopped dill
- 2 tbsp. finely chopped mint
- 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic, mashed into a paste
- 1 small shallot, finely chopped
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- Paprika, for garnish
Instructions:
Grate cucumber using the large holes of a box grater; transfer to a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl. Toss cucumber with 1 tbsp. salt; let sit 10 minutes. Squeeze excess water from cucumber and transfer to a bowl. Stir in yogurt, dill, mint, lemon juice, garlic paste, shallot, salt, and pepper; drizzle with oil and sprinkle with paprika to garnish.