This delicious dip heralding from Türkiye is made using a handful of ingredients. Grated carrots are sautéed gently and then added to Greek yoghurt with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and pul biber to make a divine addition to a Mezze-style spread.
Turkish Cuisine
Turkish cuisine is close to my heart almost as much as Persian cusine! I have travelled to Türkiye more times than i have to Iran, mostly because of the food but also the kindess of the people, the weather, the history and the sights!
The culture surrounding food in this beautiful country is very like that in Iran. It is the essence of family, coming together, sharing and eating with your loved ones. Turkish patisseries are incredible, filled with cakes, breads and other baked goods. Around the streets of Istanbul you can pick up freshly baked simit (the Turkish equivalent of a bagel) and eat it while soaking up the sights and washing it down with Turkish tea of coffee! The kebabs and other main dishes are outstanding as are the arrays of appetisers and starters pre the main event.
One of the dishes I fell in love with while visiting Istanbul was Havuç Tarator.
What is Havuç Tarator?
Havuç Tarator is a simple yoghurt-based dip made with sautéed grated carrot, crushed walnuts. lemon juice, pul biber, olive oil and a hint of garlic. It is absolutely delicious and easy to knock up.
For those of you who may not be familiar with pul biber, it is a dried, coarsely ground dark red pepper is grown in Syria and Turkey. It is used as a condiment and has a mildly smoky flavor with moderate heat. If you are unable to find it, you can substitute with dried red chilli flakes.
Serve Havuç Tarator alongside a mezze-style meal with lots of other dishes; as an accompaniment to kebabs or other BBQ dishes; or just with crackers or crisps.
Other Turkish Recipes
- Menemen (Turkish Scrambled Eggs and Tomatoes) (simplyrecipes.com)
- Mercimek Çorbası (Turkish Lentil Soup) Recipe (simplyrecipes.com)
- Dark Chocolate Covered Turkish Delights
- Simit (Turkish Sesame Encrusted Bread)
Havuç Tarator
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 medium carrots (grated on the coarse side of a box grater)
- 1 large garlic clove (crushed)
- 500 g Greek yoghurt
- 30 grams walnuts (coarsley crushed)
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Pul Biber or Aleppo Pepper (red pepper flakes)
- Squeeze or 2 of fresh lemon juice
To garnish
- Pul Biber or Aleppo Pepper
- Olive oil (to drizzle on top)
- Walnuts halves
Instructions
- Place a frying pan on a medium-high heat and add olive oil. Once the oil starts to glisten, add grated carrot. Then add crushed garlic and stir until the carrot wilts and the garlic is evenly distributed - this should only take a few minutes. Turn off the heat and let the carrot mixture cool.
- Take a bowl, add yoghurt, grated carrot, crushed walnuts, lemon juice, salt, Pul Biber and stir. Taste and adjust seasoning or other flavours as desired.
- Cover the bowl and leave in the fridge for the flavours to intensify and mix well through the yoghurt (no less than 1 hour).
- When you are ready to serve the dip, drizzle some olive oil on top and decorate with walnuts and a sprinkle of Pul Biber. Serve as part of a mezze-style spread of dishes, or as an appetiser.
