Zucchini Yoghurt Salad -Turkish style Raitha

The heat during day time is so intense that we need cold raithas or desserts.Rather than spring I feel summer is fast approaching.So rather than going for elaborate meals raithas are more preferable for me.Ofcourse I make other sides for rice/breads but end up eating the raithas more. This is a simple zucchini raitha Turkish style (also known as Yoğurtlu Kabak Salatası ) from AlmostTurkish. I had one zucchini and I used the recipe accordingly.

Ingredients:
Zucchini: 1 :optionally peeled and coarsely grated.
Thick yoghurt: 1/2 -1 cup depending on taste
Olive oil: 1-2 tsp
Garlic: 1 small clove grated/minced
Walnuts: handful: chopped/crushed/halved
Fresh/Frozen Dill: 1-2 tbsp as per taste
Fresh /Dried mint: 1tbsp :as per taste and adjust with dill.
Salt & Pepper: as per taste

Preparation:
Optioally peel zucchini (I did,very lighly)and grate it in  a bowl.Squeeze and remove the excess juice.

Heat olive oil in a pan,add the squeezed zucchini and cook till tender stirring occassionally. This takes few minutes only. Remove  from heat and allow to cool.

In a big bowl,mix well grated garlic and yoghurt. To this garlicky yoghurt,stir in the cooled zucchini,herbs,walnuts and salt & pepper.

Mix well and serve chilled.

A simple and fuss free raitha. You can adjust the herbs as per taste. I had used frozen dill and fresh mint and I prefered mint more. You can also adjust the quantity or thickness of the curd and use it as a spread or topping. This is a saviour during hot summer and a bit different from the regular no-cook raithas we normally use.

And it vanished in minutes.......................