Tzatziki with a dash of me.......

This is a recipe of my own for the tzatziki, a very popular dipping sauce commonly found in Southeast European and Middle Eastern cuisines. My first taste of tzatziki was at a Diwali party at a friend's. It was simple and yet so delicious! A perfect dipping sauce to kebabs, another favorite that often stimulates my Bengali food cravings.

Ingredients(serves 5):

• Plain yogurt - 5 cups
• Cucumber - 1 medium sized  
• Garlic -  5 cloves (I simply love the flavor of garlic in my dips. You can use less if you want to! Sometimes, I use the minced garlic paste as well.)
• Salt - 1tbsp
• Pepper - 1tbsp
• Tamarind - 1tsp
• Coriander(Cilantro) leaves - 1/4cup
• Mint leaves - 1/4 cup
• Cumin powder - 1tsp
• Coriander powder - 1tsp
• Chaat masala - 1tsp
• Olive oil - 1tbsp

Procedure:

• Beat the yogurt well to make it smooth and without lumps. Keep it aside
• Put the coriander leaves, mint leaves, minced garlic, olive oil in a blender and create a smooth paste.
• Once the paste is ready, add it in the yogurt and mix it well. 
• Remove the skin of the cucumber and chop it into extremely small, thin and even pieces and add it in the yogurt. 
• Add the salt, pepper, tamarind, cumin, coriander powder and the chaat masala and then mix well. 
• Keep it in the refrigerator. 

The cold tzatziki goes really well with the hot kebabs! Do try it out!!