Beets & carrots with cumin & haydari
- Preparation and cooking time
- Prep:
- Cook:
- plus 2 hrs thickening
- Easy
- 6 as a starter or as part of a meze spread
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
- STEP 1
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.
- STEP 2
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.
- STEP 3
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.
- STEP 4
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.
