Haydari, Turkish Herbed Yogurt and Walnut Dip
Haydari is the thick, forkable member of the Turkish yogurt meze family, the one served in a shallow dish with a well pressed into the top rather than spooned like a sauce. Its defining feature is density: the yogurt is strained until it holds its shape, then loaded with garlic, dried mint, and walnuts. Restaurant versions often stir in olive oil for gloss and salt for punch, but neither is doing structural work. Straining the yogurt supplies the body, ground toasted walnuts supply the richness, and garlic with dried mint supplies enough sharpness that salt becomes optional. What sodium the dip carries comes from the plant yogurt itself. Serve it cold as part of a meze spread, with raw vegetables or warm flatbread for scooping, or alongside anything grilled.
Ingredients
- 2 cups Plain plant yogurt
- 1/3 cup Walnuts, toasted
- 1 clove Garlic, grated to a paste
- 2 tsp Dried mint
- 2 tbsp Dill, chopped
- 1 tsp Aleppo pepper, salt-free, to finish
Method
- Set the yogurt in a cloth-lined sieve over a bowl and let it drain in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight. Draining is what turns a pourable yogurt into a dense, scoopable dip, the texture that separates haydari from a plain yogurt sauce, and it needs no thickener to get there.
- Toast the walnuts in a dry pan until fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes, then chop them. Grind half to a coarse meal and leave half in pieces. The ground half thickens the dip and adds richness where oil would; the pieces give it texture.
- Stir the grated garlic into the drained yogurt along with the dried mint. Rubbing the mint in early gives it time to soften and release into the yogurt, so its flavor runs all the way through.
- Fold in the walnuts and most of the dill, keeping a little back. Taste: it should read sharp and herbal on its own, with the garlic and mint standing in for salt.
- Spread it in a shallow bowl, swoop the back of a spoon across the top, and finish with the reserved dill and a scatter of Aleppo pepper. Use salt-free Aleppo, since the flakes are often sold pre-salted.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 110 calories, 4 g protein, 2 g fiber, 70 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
