Tzatziki Sauce

Tzatziki Sauce in Marathi

Time: 5 to 7 minutes
Makes: 1 cup Sauce (sufficient for 4 persons)

Ingredients:
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1 and 1/2 cups plain yogurt, (Full fat) (See tip)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh dill  (or 1 tsp dried dill) (For substitute option see tip below)
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste

Method:
1) Strain the yogurt for 1 hour to make it slightly thick.
2) Put strained yogurt, garlic cloves, dill, olive oil, lemon juice and salt in the blender. Blend well. Then add cucumber and give a few pulse. Cucumber should be slightly coarse.

Serve with Falafel and Falafel Wraps.

Tips:
1) Traditionally, Tzatziki sauce is made of Greek yogurt (strained yogurt). If its available, then use it directly. Otherwise, use plain yogurt by straining it for an hour.
2) Dill can be substituted with mint leaves.
3) Lemon juice can be substituted with little vinegar.

Instant Cucumber Pickle

Cucumber Pickle in Marathi

Time: 10 minutes
Makes: 3 to 4 servings

Ingredients:
3/4 cup finely chopped cucumber (peeled)
2 tbsp Mustard powder (black or red mustard)
1/4 tsp hing
2 tsp water
Salt to taste
1 tsp lemon juice
Tempering: 1 tsp oil, 2 pinches of mustard seeds, 1/4 tsp Hing, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 2 green chilies (finely chopped)

Method:
1) Take the chopped cucumber into a bowl. Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp hing, mix with a spoon. Keep it aside for 20 minutes.
2) After 20 minutes, gently squeeze out water from cucumber. Take this water into a blender. Add mustard powder and blend well. If you find the mixture is very thick then add a tsp of water. After blending for a couple of minutes, the mixture will become whitish. Add it to the cucumber.
3) Heat oil into a tadka pan. Add mustard seeds, hing, turmeric powder and green chilies. Pour this tempering into a separate glass/ steel bowl. Let it cool down before adding to the cucumber.
4) Add lemon juice and tadka to the cucumber. Mix well.
Cucumber instant pickle can be enjoyed with chapati and also as a side dish in the meal. Refrigerate upto 3 to 4 days.

Tips:
1) Since this pickle stay good for 3 to 4 days, make it in a small quantity.
2) Cucumber oozes out water once salt is added to it. If you use extra water to blend the mustard powder the pickle will become much watery. To avoid that, use the oozed out water to blend mustard powder.

Cucumber Soup

Cucumber Soup in Marathi

serves: 2 persons
Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
2 big cucumbers
1/2 tsp green chili paste
2 pinches black pepper powder
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
finely chopped cilantro for garnishing

Method:
1) Peel the cucumbers. Cut into thin round slices. Taste both cucumbers as sometimes cucumbers have slight bitterness.
2) Heat oil into a pan. Add chopped garlic. Saute for 20 seconds. Add chopped onion and saute until translucent.
3) Add cucumber slices and salt. Turn the heat to medium-low. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, cucumber will become mushy.
4) Add chili paste and transfer the cucumber to blender. Add a tsp of lemon juice and black pepper. Blend and make fine puree. Add very little water to adjust the consistency, only if needed.
You may serve this soup when its warm or refrigerate for 2 hours and serve chilled. Garnish with finely chopped cucumber and cilantro.

Tips:
1) To make this soup creamy, add an avocado while blending.

Kakadicha Kayras

Kakdicha Kayras in Marathi

Time: 10 to 15 minutes
Serves: 3 to 4 persons

Ingredients:
1 cup finely chopped cucumber (peeled)
1 tbsp tamarind pulp
3 to 4 tbsp grated jaggery or to taste
2 tbsp roasted peanuts powder (coarsely ground)
For tempering: 1 tbsp oil, 1/8 tsp cumin seeds, 2 pinches asafoetida, 1/8 tsp turmeric powder, 1/4 tsp red chili powder
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
salt to taste

Method:
1) Take tamarind pulp into a medium bowl. Add around 1/2 cup water and mix well. Add salt, jaggery and mix until dissolve. [Taste should be sweet and sour, so do not hesitate to add some more jaggery if you want to.]
2) Add chopped cucumber to tamarind water. We want runny consistency, so add some more water if required. Also, add roasted peanuts.
3) Heat oil into a tadka pan. Add cumin, hing, turmeric powder, red chili powder. Pour this tempering over kayras. Garnish with cilantro.
Cucumber kayras can be served as a side dish.

Cucumber Raita

Cucumber Raita in Marathi

Serves: 2 to 3 persons
Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup finely chopped cucumber (Peeled)
3/4 cup plain yogurt, well beaten
1 green chili, finely chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1 tsp ghee
2 pinches cumin seeds
salt to taste

Method:
1) Mix cucumber and yogurt. Crush green chili with little salt. Add it to cucumber-yogurt mixture and mix.
2) Heat ghee in a tadka pan. Add cumin and wait till it crackles. Add this to cucumber raita.
3) Add cilantro and some salt if needed. Mix nicely. Serve as a side dish.

Tips:
1) To make raita more spicy, add little more green chili.
2) Do not add all yogurt at once. Add little and mix. Once you get perfect consistency, stop adding more. OR if you like yogurt-y taste, add more than given amount.
3) Some roasted crushed peanuts can add some crunch to the raita.