Thermomix Tzatziki

Tzatziki is a great dish that, along with its Indian cousin, raita, makes a great simple dip. They are also useful accompaniments for spicy dishes as the casein in yoghurt helps neutralize the capsaicinoids and remove them from the receptors in the mouth. Better still for that purpose is a "plum juice" available in some Chinese stores made from yang mei, and sometimes labelled arbutus juice. But I digress.

Lobstersquad made a yoghurt dip recently and reported that she doesn't use her Thermomix for producing tzatziki, or chopping any vegetables, as it tends to make slush out of the vegies. I must agree that it certainly has the tendency to want to puree anything that it can. Be with a bit of cajoling it is possible to make a delicious tzatziki in the Thermomix.

The secret is to chop/blend for short bursts, scrape down the vegies/fruit/whatever and repeat until the desired consistency is reached. The Australian Thermomix cookbook book has a number of recipes that appear to have longer blending times than needed and so be careful.

Just what the world needs - another tzatziki recipe. Sorry, but hope you will try the technique behind it, including draining the yoghurt to get a thicker, creamier texture.

Thermomix Tzatziki

Ingredients:

250g yoghurt
1 telegraph ( or Lebanese) cucumber, peeled, seeds removed, cut in pieces2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp fresh mint
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cumin
Salt and Pepper
Paprika

Method:

Place yoghurt in sieve lined with paper towel or clean tea towel and leave in fridge to drain for 4 hours or overnight.

Place cucumber pieces into Thermomix bowl and pulse Turbo button once. Scrape cucumber down from sides of bowl and pulse Turbo button again. Sprinkle with salt and place in a fine plastic sieve or colander lined with paper towel, leave for 15 minutes to drain off excess juice.

Place the garlic and mint in Thermomix bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 7. Scrape down sides and repeat twice. Add the yoghurt, oil, lemon juice, coriander and cumin and mix for 10 seconds on speed 4.

Rinse the cucumber mixture under cold water, squeeze out any excess moisture and add to the yoghurt mixture. Blend for 10 seconds on reverse speed 2.

Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Sprinkle paprika over top and serve.