Tzatziki recipe

Tzatziki is a light and creamy Greek dip made using yoghurt and cucumber. Similar to the Indian raita, it can be served with crisps, vegetables or crusty bread for dipping, or can even be used inside sandwiches or baguettes to add a bit of easy flavour.

This dip recipe is relatively quick and simple to make, but there are certain tips and tricks that you can do to make sure it comes out perfectly.

To make this dip as creamy as possible, it's best to try and avoid as much excess water as you can. The best way to achieve this is to peel and deseed your cucumber and then grate it or finely slice (using a vegetable peeler would get the finest slices). Then put your cucumber in a cloth or tea towel and strain out all of the excess liquid.

This tzatziki recipe uses mint, cumin and lemon juice to add flavouring but there are many other ingredients you can add to make the flavour even more exciting.

For some extra zing add some dill or lemon zest along with your juice. Or if you want to add sweetness or spiciness, smoked paprika, chilli flakes or even a bit of grated red chilli would do the trick.

Add grated garlic for an extra treat.

Ingredients

• Half a cucumber
• 6-7 tbsp thick Greek yogurt
• 8 finely chopped mint leaves
• Pinch of ground cumin
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice and seasoning

Method

1. Coarsely grate the cucumber and put it in a sieve over a large bowl. Push out the juice, using a wooden spoon. Throw away the juice, put the cucumber in the bowl.
2. Add Greek yogurt, mint leaves, cumin, lemon juice and seasoning, to taste.
3. Serve with toasted pitta bread or poppadoms and fresh vegetables. Use on the day of making.