Cucumber Mint Buttermilk Soup Recipes

COLD CUCUMBER SOUP

Steps:

• Line a fine sieve with a coffee filter or a piece of cheesecloth. Add yogurt and strain for 30 minutes. Pour away the whey that collects.
• Peel cucumbers; scrape out and discard the seeds. Roughly chop cucumber and place in a blender. Add 1/2 of the yogurt, 1/2 of the buttermilk, and 1 clove garlic; puree. Add remaining yogurt, buttermilk, garlic, mint, and parsley; process everything until finely pureed. You might have to work in batches depending on the size of your blender. Add olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Serve chilled.

COLD CUCUMBER SOUP WITH MINT

Steps:

• In a bowl with a fork mash together yolk and vinegar to form a smooth paste and stir in sour cream until smooth.
• In a blender purée cucumber and mint with buttermilk and salt to taste until smooth. Add purée to sour cream mixture in a stream, whisking.
• Divide soup between 2 chilled bowls.

MINTED CUCUMBER AND BELL PEPPER BUTTERMILK SOUP

Steps:

• In a blender purée 1 of the cucumbers, chopped, the yogurt, the salt, the sugar, and the mustard, transfer the purée to a large bowl, and stir in the buttermilk, the bell peppers, the remaining cucumber, diced fine, and the 2 tablespoons chopped mint. Chill the soup, covered, for a least 3 hours or overnight and stir in the lemon juice and salt to taste. Divide the soup among 4 bowls and garnish it with the shredded mint.

CHILLED CUCUMBER MINT SOUP

Steps:

• Grate cucumbers and squeeze out excess water. Place in a bowl. Add other ingredients, except hot pepper and chill at least 2 hours. The vinegar will turn the milk into buttermilk and the flavors will blend.
• Just before serving, process in blender until smooth. Add hot pepper to suit your tastes, or omit entirely for an authentic Middle Eastern flavour.

ABDOOGH KHIAR (CHILLED BUTTERMILK CUCUMBER SOUP)

Steps:

• If using dried rose, crumble a few petals coarsely for garnish and set aside. Place the rest on a cutting board and chop as finely as possible.
• Place the buttermilk, yogurt and 1 teaspoon salt in a blender and blend until frothy, about 30 seconds, or whisk together in a large bowl until smooth and frothy. If you used a blender, pour the mixture into a large bowl. Add the cucumbers, raisins, walnuts, dill, chives, dried mint and 1/4 teaspoon of the finely chopped rose petals. Stir well to combine and season to taste with more salt. Cover and refrigerate to chill and allow the flavors to come to life, at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• Just before serving, toast the lavash or bread until crisp but not burned, and break into pieces. Stir the soup to mix. It should be the consistency of a thin, runny soup. If it's too thick, thin it out with water or more buttermilk, 1 tablespoon at a time. Keep in mind that you will be adding ice cubes, which will also thin out the soup as they melt. Divide the soup among serving bowls and add the ice cubes. Garnish the top as creatively as you like with crumbled dried rose petals, cucumber, dried mint, dill sprigs, raisins, walnuts and fresh mint leaves. Add the bread pieces right before serving or serve on the side.

MINT CUCUMBER SOUP

Steps:

• Peel and cut 1 1/2 of the cucumbers into large chunks (set the remaining unpeeled 1/2 cucumber aside).
• Combine the cucumber chunks in a food processor with the yogurt, sour cream, olive oil, mint, salt, garlic and plenty of white pepper. Pulse, scraping down the sides, until completely smooth.
• Ladle the mixture into cold bowls or refrigerate until serving. Chop the remaining cucumber into fine dice and divide among the bowls. Swirl some sour cream into each bowl, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and scatter with mint and almonds.