Saturday, April 9, 2011

Iraqi Cucumber and Garlic Salad (Salata Kyhiar wa Toum)


I came across this salad in an Iraqi-Jewish cookbook and was intrigued by it because I've never seen a salad which included raw garlic cloves as an ingredient.I was skeptical at first because of the amount of garlic used but after marinating it for the allotted time, which mellows the garlicky taste and tweaking some of the ingredients, the salad has a very cooling and refreshing taste and similar to the other salads of the Middle East.

Yield:
8 Servings

Ingredients:

8 large cucumbers, peeled and diced

10 small to medium sized garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/2 c fresh cilantro, thinly chopped

1/2 c fresh mint, thinly chopped

juice of 3 large lemons

3 tsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. dill

3/4 tsp. sea salt

1. Combine all ingredients together in a large bowl, mix together till evenly combined, and chill for about 1 hour.

4 comments:

  1. I love garlic but I can understand being worried about that amount of garlic. It sounds delicious and fresh.

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  2. My Polish heritage means that I am completely open to large amounts of raw garlic. My grandmother lived a long and healthy life by eating a clove a day. I've just printed out this recipe - can't wait to try it.

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  3. out of curiousity, what cookbook is this recipe from???

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  4. Hi dS,
    Recipe was adapted from Mama Nazima's Jewish-Iraqi Cuisine by Rivka Goldman

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