Garlic Yoghurt With Carrots – Sarımsaklı Yoğurtlu Havuç Salatası

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Turkish garlic yoghurt with carrots (sarımsaklı yoğurtlu havuç salatası or havuç tarator) is a meze dish that we usually only have the pleasure to eat in the home.

You sometimes get to eat this tasty Turkish carrot salad on the Blue Bays boat trips around Fethiye.

But, for whatever reason, the Turkish restaurants we frequent in Fethiye never seem to have it available in their meze fridges.

This is despite it being so popular in the home kitchens of Turkish cuisine.

Garlic Yoghurt With Carrots – Sweet And Tasty

It’s a regular on our table at home because it’s a super tasty, great way to use up any surplus carrots lurking in the fridge.

If we’re shopping at Fethiye Market or Çalış Market, we always manage to buy far too much produce. So this delicious recipe comes in handy very often.

The sweetness of the grated carrot complements the flavour of the natural yoghurt, perfectly.

And, well, it just looks so appetising. The orange of the carrot mixing with the olive oil and creating a colourful garlic yoghurt dip.

You can never have too much yoghurt in a Turkish kitchen.

And we find garlic yoghurt with carrots an easy and interesting alternative to the multitude of other yoghurt-based Turkish meze recipes, such as cacık and haydari.

Sauté = Sweet

Perhaps because the carrots are not added to the yoghurt in their raw state – they’re sauteed first – once they’re added to the yoghurt, the new flavour is not dissimilar to home made mayonnaise.

Sautéing them brings out the natural sweetness of the carrots.

And it’s this sweetness that makes this Turkish carrot yoghurt dip stand out from other yoghurt-based meze plates.

How Do You Like Yours?

Carrots with garlic and yoghurt can be whatever texture you like. It’s all down to the amount of ingredients you use.

When you saute your carrots, it’s up to you how much olive oil to use. We use more than we used to in this recipe because our tastes have changed over the years.

We used to like a thick and creamy garlic yoghurt with carrots. But, these days, we prefer a looser consistency.

Take a look at other people’s yoğurtlu havuç and you might see a really runny consistency with lots of olive oil and few carrots.

Or you might see almost solid, creamy dips. Experiment with the consistency until you get the one to suit you.

When you saute your grated carrot for Turkish carrot yoghurt dip, you need to do it on a medium to low heat and stir them until the carrots sizzle lightly and start to soften.

Don’t let them go mushy. But you do want to take the crunch away.

For anyone like me who gets stomach upsets from raw carrot, sauteing them is your saviour.

Once the carrots have cooled, it’s just a case of mixing in the rest of your ingredients. And then transferring your garlic yoghurt with carrots meze into a serving dish.

Dill

We never used to add fresh dill to this carrot salad. But, as we said above, our taste buds have changed over the years.

We’re still careful with the dill though, otherwise it can be really overpowering. And then you lose the sweet taste of the carrots.

If you’re like us, add your dill a little at a time and keep doing a taste test.

If you’re leaving your garlic yoghurt with carrots in the fridge for a while before eating, bear in mind that the flavour of the dill will become stronger.

Garlic

As with our other ingredients, it’s up to you how strong you like your garlicky yoghurt.

In Turkey, the garlic cloves tend to be big and meaty on locally grown bulbs.

Again, if you’re storing this carrot and garlic yoghurt dip in the fridge, the flavours will become stronger as time goes on.

Garnish & Serve

Garlic yoghurt with carrots also goes well with a sprinkling of paprika and topped with walnuts.

You can add it to your meze table along with lots of other tempting dishes or you can use it as a side or a filling.

We like to eat it with homemade köfte and we’ve also had it as a filling in a jacket potato; kumpir.

It works!

Oh, and if you know Turkish food, it doesn’t need us to tell you that a hot-from-the-oven homemade puffy bread is a perfect partner to this carrot and yoghurt dip!

Carrot & Yoghurt Dip – FAQs

Turkish Garlic Yoghurt With Carrots – Our Recipe

Right, let’s get down to making this simple garlic yoghurt with carrots.

And, if you’ve never had the pleasure of tasting this before, we’re sure you’re gonna love it.

You will be making it again and again…

It’s a very quick and easy dip recipe. Perfect for special occasions or as a side dish to grilled meat for a mian course on busy weeknights.

And look at those lovely sunny colours once your yoghurt has taken on the carrot-infused olive oil.

If you want to get creative in the kitchen, we’ve got lots of Turkish recipes you can experiment with.

Afiyet Olsun!

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