Turkish Dips - Guest Post from Simcha

My guest post today is from my beautiful friend Simcha. You can read about her Turkish cooking blog & the antics we once got up to in my post yesterday. Today she has provided some quick & easy dip recipes-Enjoy!!

Hello everyone what kind words from a kind soul. My friend Caroline and I used to have lots of fun and hopefully we will have more when I come back. If you are anything like me you are curious about different cultures and people, what they do and what they eat. This has lead me to cook various things other than just the average meat and 3 veg. I came to Turkey 6 years ago and what an adventure,! many things have happened including living the way the locals do and learning all their culinary secrets. Turkish food seems to becoming more and more popular these days and I can understand why. The Turkish food culture is one of appreciating fresh at its best. Combining ingredients to compliment each other and eating in season. I have lived in many areas of Turkey from the European side to Middle Anatolia to the Mediterranean. All the areas have their own distinct dishes and styles but there are many dishes that the Turks as a whole have in common. Those are the ones you will probably find at your local Turkish restaurant.

What would most people order at a Turkish Restaurant if they have no exposure to the food before?

I'm thinking the dip platter(I have checked online and most still seem to be serving this)so I will give you the recipes for all those beautiful looking dips and you can do this at your next BBQ and impress your friends.

We will start with Baba Ghanoush, Beetroot dip and Cacik. You will find these very very easy to make. You might all have your favorite recipes for these as I know in most areas these are sold in the fridge sections of most supermarkets. I will be giving you the recipes as I know them from the average Turkish housewife.

Baba Ghanoush

1 large eggplant or a couple of small ones

garlic to taste, minced

salt to taste

lemon juice to taste

yogurt --- probably 1 or 2 cups

Cook the eggplants whole in your oven until black. Place them into a plastic bag until cool. Take off the blackened skins, rinse off then chop roughly. Add everything into the yogurt and serve. You can garnish with dried mint or chili.

Beetroot or Pembe Sultan

I love this and make it all the time. I usually eat it as a side with salad.

1 kilo of cooked beetroot - you can boil it or roast it to be fancy - you can add it in raw if you like but it doesn't give you the deep red colour.

garlic, minced

salt

yogurt - 1-2 cups

Peel and grate the cooked beetroot. Add everything else, stir and serve.

Hummus

1 tin of cooked chickpeas

sesame paste - half a cup

lemon juice to taste - 1 or 2 tbsp

salt

garlic, minced

olive oil

Drain the chickpeas and put everything into a food processor or use a hand blender. When you add in the sesame paste add half in first, taste to see if you want more, then add the rest(some people find it a bit strong) same with the garlic add to your own taste. I would probably add in 4 cloves. With the olive oil I would probably put in a couple of tablespoons, if the mix looked a bit dry then add in some more.

With all of the above dishes you can add olive oil.

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