Beets & carrots with cumin & haydari
By Diana Henry
Haydari is a Turkish meze of strained yogurt, herbs and garlic and it pairs well with crunchy carrots and beetroot in this simple veggie starter
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Prep:45 mins
Cook:10 mins
plus 2 hrs thickening - Serves 6 as a starter or as part of a meze spread
- Easy
Nutrition per serving
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kcal 288
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fat 19g
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saturates 6g
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carbs 18g
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sugars 16g
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fibre 6g
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protein 8g
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salt 0.4g
Ingredients
- 400g Greek yogurt
- 1 red and 1 green chilli, halved, deseeded and very finely chopped
- small pack dill, leaves only, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 600g cooked beetroot (not pickled)
- 400g carrots
- 2 tsp toasted cumin seeds
- ½ tsp white balsamic vinegar
- ½ lemon
- 25g walnut pieces, lightly toasted
Method
Make the haydari 2 hrs ahead of when you want to serve. Line a sieve with a piece of muslin or a brand- new J-cloth. Tip in the yogurt and leave for 2 hrs to thicken.
Put the drained yogurt in a bowl and combine with 2 tbsp of the olive oil, the dill (keeping some back for serving), garlic and chilli – don’t overmix, you should still be able to see bits of chilli.
Peel and cut the carrots into matchsticks, and the beetroots into wedges. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add half the cumin seeds, cook for 30 secs, then add the carrots. Stir-fry for 1 min, then add the vinegar, a good squeeze of lemon and some seasoning and quickly remove from the pan. Add 1/2 tbsp of oil to the pan with the rest of the cumin seeds. Cook for 30 secs, then add the beetroot. Squeeze on some more lemon juice and season.
Put some of the haydari on each of six plates, flattening it and swirling it a little with the back of a spoon. Spoon some beetroot on top, then some carrots, sprinkle with dill and walnuts, drizzle with a little more of the olive oil and serve.
