Abdoogh Khiar AKA Chilled Cucumber And Yoghurt Soup

My flatmate of years gone by (who now lives in the UK) was staying here with us recently.  She and I used to make a chilled cucumber soup with loads of garlic (beware, all vampires)!  This version has none (I reckon a clove or two wouldn't hurt), and is a marvellously refreshing meal on a hot summer's night.  Which it was when our Persian friends came for dinner.

They are very charming people, with an adorable 3 year-old son, who always asks: 'where is Sherry?' when they drop in.  He and I play with his trucks, and check out his other toys when at his home.  Oh, the excitement of being 3!  And finally, in my autumn years, boys are after me :=)  

I made this for Cookbook Club, from the book Salamati by Hamed Allahyari with Dani Valent.  Our reviews were a bit of a mixed bag as there seemed to be some errors (or omissions) in some of the recipes.  For instance, in this one, he doesn't list iced water as an ingredient, whereas every other version I've found lists it as a primary ingredient.  

We all found this soup very thick, and it definitely needed to be watered down, especially as I had used a thick Greek yoghurt.  'Twas great when the ice cubes melted finally :=)  I found lots of recipes for this soup, with so many variations in the amounts of yoghurt and herbs, but this one turned out well.

garnished with glee (and walnuts and rose buds)

Serves 6:

ingredients:

500g./18 oz Lebanese cucumbers, diced into small chunks

2 green apples (I used Granny Smith), cored and diced

1 cup (20g./0.7 oz mint leaves, finely chopped - see Notes

1 cup (50g./1.8 oz) basil, finely chopped

1 cup (50g./1.8 oz) dill and/or chives, finely chopped

1 cup/100g./3.5 oz walnuts, zapped in a food processor

170g./6 oz sultanas or raisins

2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp sea salt

1 kg/35 oz plain yoghurt (I used Greek)

lots of ice cubes!!  Hamed says 6-8, but more is better :=)

1 Tbs dried mint, for garnish

iced water - maybe half a cup to a cup? - to thin it down

1/2 cup dried rose petals, for garnish (maybe less)

extra walnuts, crushed, for garnish

flatbread, grilled, to serve

Method:

Grab a large mixing bowl; add the cucumber, apple, herbs, walnuts, sultanas, salt and pepper

Give it a good stir; add the yoghurt and ice cubes, and iced water

Ladle some out into bowls, and garnish with the rose petals, mint and extra walnuts

Serve with warm, toasted flatbread

Notes:

I confess I didn't use this much of these herbs!  Not a huge fan of basil or dill so I used a lot less of those and I used chives instead.  Plus I just didn't like that amount of herbs so I used less of all of them, and I zapped them altogether in the processor

Add whatever amount of iced water you prefer; it did need some (as our Persian friends politely informed us).  Mr. Persia also told me it was fabulous, and tasted just as it should - phew!

ingredients gathered (no idea why that rogue lemon is there)

zap or chop the herbs

put everything into a large bowl

start stirring ...

slather on the youghurt

throw in the ice cubes

garnish and serve with warmed flatbread

one gorgeous Persian (Iranian) family, our lovely friends

c. Sherry M.    (a lemon? Why?)

(Sharing with Marg from The Intrepid Reader and Baker for Weekend Cooking)