Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce

Name: Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce
Yield: makes about 1 1/2 cups
Ingredients: 1 medium cucumber; A pinch of salt; 3/4 cup whole-milk yogurt; 1 small garlic clove, pounded to a purée; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 2 mint sprigs, leaves only, cut in chiffonade

December 20, 2011

This sauce is a version of a raita, the cooling South Asian yogurt sauce, which is often seasoned with cumin seed, cinnamon, and cayenne. Try different varieties of cucumber such as lemon, Armenian, or Japanese. If the cucumbers have large seeds, use a spoon to scrape them out after you cut the cucumbers in half. A cool growing season sometimes yields bitter cucumbers, so taste each cucumber; a bitter cucumber will spoil the sauce.

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