TZATZIKI DIP

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Tzatziki Dip
*UPDATED July 21, 2016: This post has been updated with newer photographs and a printable recipe. This tzatziki dip recipe was originally posted in January, 2011 and has seen me through many get togethers. I love making this dip for my guests or as a spread when I am making middle eastern wraps. Its light and refreshing and a great appetizer, which requires minimum effort in the kitchen.

Below is a picture of the dip that went along with the original post. Even though I am updating my old recipes with newer pictures I like to keep one picture from the old post as a reminder to me and everybody that we all begin somewhere. 

ORIGINAL POST:

Tzatziki dip is a traditional greek dip. Its made of greek yogurt mixed with grated cucumbers, garlic, olive oil. Greek yogurt is basically, strained yogurt – the consistency has to be thick for the dip. Like the yogurt, the cucumber should not be too watery. After grating the cucumber, make sure to squeeze it real hard to remove the moisture from the cucumber. Tzatziki sometimes also has dill, parsley, or mint for an added flavor. I used dill and love the flavor it adds to the dip. Its a great accompaniment to pita, or a great dip to serve with cut vegetables.

I made the tzatziki dip for the coffee morning at my place and it was a hit. I mixed the leftover tzatziki with some leftover coleslaw and added macaroni and some boiled potatoes to it. It was one of the best macaroni salads I have ever tasted.

Tzatziki Dip

Tzatziki Dip

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RASPBERRY GREEK YOGURT POPPY SEED CAKE

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Since I am going to India in a few weeks time, I am in a major fridge cleaning spree. I know V won’t use any of the baking stuff that I have stored up and am sure they won’t last till the time I am back. I also have to make enough room in the fridge to stock up food for V’s coming forced bachelor days. At least for the initial few days- then he is on his own. I had been planning to make a cake for my mom’s birthday- which was yesterday, the Jan 12th. The idea was to make a red velvet cake with cream cheese filling. But, then I had raspberries- so it became red velvet with raspberry cream cheese. But, there was no cream cheese in the fridge. Thought of going to the store to get some- and just as I was about to I remembered I had some greek yogurt that had been sitting in the fridge. Hmm…can I use it as a substitute- googled but did not find any confident yes in the search results. Tasted it and thought it might just work. So the cake became, Red Velvet cake with a raspberry greek yogurt filling. That’s what I thought!

I decided to make the filling first. Thank god that’s what I did. The yogurt creamed really good, but when I added the raspberry puree it thinned down. I tried thickening it, with my amateur techniques, but nothing helped. Looking at the consistency, I thought of turning that batter into cake batter. Added some flour, leavener, poppy seeds- and put it in the oven for it to do its trick! I decided to take the cake for my movie afternoon with my friends and they looooooved it- even the one who is on a strict diet and avoids all sweet stuff- she ate three pieces one after the other. I am so proud of myself! 🙂

(I just hope I wrote down all the components correctly! =/ )

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