For a creamy tsatsiki you have to remove the water from the yoghurt. After a few hours, hung up in a linen cloth to drain, the yoghurt loses some of the water and gains firmness and taste.
Have you ever wondered why tsatsiki on holiday in Greece always tastes different than the homemade version at home? You may have used a little less garlic than is usual in Mediterranean countries, but that still doesn’t explain the creamy consistency and the intense, fine taste, which just won’t work at home. The secret of a creamy tsatsiki is that you reduce the amount of water that you stir into the dip, especially over the yoghurt, as much as possible.
Squeeze the yoghurt in the linen cloth
The basic substance of tsatsiki is yoghurt. In Greek supermarkets, you can buy a yoghurt specially prepared for the preparation of tsatsiki. This yoghurt has been “squeezed out”, i.e. the whey it contains has been removed as much as possible. A simple trick can help you to make a Greek tsatsiki with German yoghurt:
Buy regular, high-fat yoghurt. Greek housewives use at least 10 per cent yoghurt. Alternatively, you can also mix in quark. You must then wrap the yoghurt in a linen cloth or small tablecloth for several hours so that the water contained can drain off. Depending on the quantity, it is best to hang the yoghurt over the sink or the bathtub. To do this, knot the outer corners of the linen cloth and attach it to the water tap together with the yoghurt dripping inside. Caution: the amount of yoghurt will be significantly reduced by this procedure. So if you are expecting guests, you should plan to double the amount of yoghurt accordingly.
Buy firm, slender cucumbers and drain them
A real tsatsiki contains one or two grated cucumbers. When choosing cucumbers, you can also pay attention to low water content and a more intense taste. Large, thick cucumbers mainly contain water and little taste. Slender, firm cucumbers, on the other hand, will give your tsatsiki a pleasant, fruity note.
To prepare a creamy tsatsiki, it is important that you extract as much water as possible from the cucumbers. Grate the peeled cucumbers on a kitchen grater and put the cucumber mixture in a sieve. Leave the sieve over a container for a while so that the cucumber juice can drain off. Also, press down on the grated cucumbers with your hand until hardly any water runs out of the cucumber mixture. When the cucumber and yoghurt mixture has drained, you can prepare your “holiday tsatsiki”.
Season with garlic – refine with olive oil
Mix yoghurt and cucumber with some salt. Depending on how spicy you want it, add 2-3 or more cloves of garlic. Then refine your tsatsiki with a dash of olive oil and the popular garlic dip is ready. Tsatsiki tastes particularly spicy if you leave it in the fridge for a few hours.
