Balkan Kajmak Cucumber Dill Sauce 🥒✨

Description

Balkan Kajmak Cucumber Dill Sauce is a cool, creamy table sauce made with kajmak, thick yogurt, grated cucumber, garlic, dill, lemon, olive oil, and black pepper. It is fresh, rich, and spoonable, perfect with grilled meat, roasted potatoes, warm flatbread, fish, stuffed peppers, or any rustic Balkan plate that needs a creamy bright finish.
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Hook ✨
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Creamy kajmak, cool cucumber, thick yogurt, garlic, dill, lemon, and olive oil make this Balkan sauce fresh, rich, and made for dipping. 🥒

Ingredients

• Creamy base 🥣
• 🥛 180 g kajmak, or thick sour cream as substitute (¾ cup / 6.3 oz)
• 🥛 220 g Greek yogurt or thick plain yogurt (1 cup / 7.8 oz)
• 🥒 250 g cucumber, grated and squeezed (1 large / 8.8 oz)
• 🧄 2 garlic cloves, finely grated (2 cloves / 0.35 oz)
• 🍋 20 ml lemon juice (1 tbsp + 1 tsp / 0.7 fl oz)
• 🫒 25 ml olive oil (1 tbsp + 2 tsp / 0.85 fl oz)
• 🧂 4 g fine sea salt (¾ tsp / 0.14 oz)
• ⚫ 2 g black pepper (1 tsp / 0.07 oz)
• ‌
• Fresh finish 🌿
• 🌿 20 g fresh dill, finely chopped (½ cup loose / 0.7 oz)
• 🌿 10 g fresh parsley, finely chopped (¼ cup loose / 0.35 oz)
• 🍋 5 g lemon zest, optional (1 tbsp / 0.17 oz)
• 🫒 10 ml olive oil for topping (2 tsp / 0.3 fl oz)
• 🌶️ 1 pinch sweet paprika for topping, optional

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ Prepare the cucumber 🥒
2. ‌
3. Grate the cucumber, sprinkle with a small pinch of salt, and let it sit for 8 min. Squeeze out the liquid very well so the sauce stays thick and creamy.
4. ‌
5. 2️⃣ Mix the base 🥣
6. ‌
7. In a bowl, whisk kajmak and Greek yogurt until smooth. The texture should be thick, glossy, and spoonable.
8. ‌
9. 3️⃣ Add the flavor 🧄
10. ‌
11. Stir in the squeezed cucumber, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and black pepper. Mix gently until evenly combined.
12. ‌
13. 4️⃣ Fold in herbs 🌿
14. ‌
15. Add dill, parsley, and lemon zest if using. Fold for 20 sec, just until the herbs are spread through the sauce.
16. ‌
17. 5️⃣ Chill briefly ❄️
18. ‌
19. Cover and chill for 15 min so the garlic, dill, cucumber, and kajmak settle into one clean flavor.
20. ‌
21. 6️⃣ Finish and serve ✨
22. ‌
23. Spoon into a shallow bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and add a tiny pinch of paprika if desired. Serve cold with bread, grilled food, potatoes, fish, or roasted vegetables.

Total Time

⏱ Prep: 12 min
🔥 Cook/Bake: 0 min
🛋 Rest: 23 min
⏰ Total: 35 min

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