Tzatziki/Raita/cacik (Kebabsås)/mast-o-khiar (Youghurt sås, ofta med vitlök)

När det ottomanska riket fortfarande var i full gång med handeln njöt Indien av den enkla yoghurtbaserade dippen som kallas raita. Under den här tiden styrdes det indiska folket av en persisk elitklass som åt den indiska risrätten biryani.

Men biryanin var för kryddig för den persiska smaken. För att balansera kryddornas eld började perserna njuta av den lugnande smaken av raitasås. Som vi säkert alla vet från våra egna erfarenheter på en indisk restaurang är en sval och fräsch yoghurtsås den perfekta lösningen för att få bukt med den brännande känslan i munnen.

När perserna återvände till Mellanöstern tog de med sig raita. Men ännu mer än perserna själva tyckte grekerna om den här rätten. Men de började experimentera med denna klassiska gurk- och yoghurtdipp tills dess indiska rötter nästan var osynliga. Tzatziki var född.

Tzatziki innehåller till exempel yoghurt, riven och avrunnen gurka samt vitlök. Olivolja, salt och peppar tillsätts ofta.[1] Ibland används också bladkryddor i tzatziki, såsom dill, persilja eller mynta.

The first difference between these two dishes is about the texture. For one thing, tzatziki is always thick and served as a dip while cacik could be either thick or as runny as a soup.

Also, the cucumbers added are in different forms. In a tzatziki recipe, you grate them first and then strain the grated cucumbers with the help of a cheese cloth or a fine mash strainer to remove the excessive juice. The seeds of cucumbers are often removed as well. On the other hand, in a cacik recipe, you just dice the cucumbers into small pieces and seeds are never removed.

Another difference is about the flavorings. Authentic cacik is flavored with dried mint, which has a more aroma than fresh mint. The dried mint used is mostly known as spearmint. There is a variation with fresh dill too, but not as common. On the other hand, authentic tzatziki doesn't use any spice or herbs. The main aroma of tzatziki comes from garlic. Turkish cacik also has garlic but the amount is not as much as in its Greek cousin.

Also, there is vinegar (or lemon juice) and olive oil in a tzatziki recipe while we don't have these in a cacik recipe.

The name literally translates in Farsi to Yogurt (mast) and Cucumber (khiar). It consists of 4 ingredients and it's crazy easy to make! Mast o Khiar is also extremely healthy too which makes it even better!

You can't go to a Persian dinner without seeing this on the table. It's a staple just like our very popular Shirazi Salad and crunchy Tahdig of course.

The refreshing cucumber yogurt dip tastes so good with many various recipes and Persian rice dishes. Some of my favorites to pair it with are Lubia Polo which is a green bean rice and Khoresh Bademjan which is an eggplant stew.

Many other cultures also have a version of yogurt and cucumber dip. Some examples are Indian Raita, Greek Tzatziki and Turkish Cacik. All are similar and different in their own ways. Mast o khiar is the Iranian version in which we don't add any garlic unlike a lot of other recipes.