Tarator Bulgarian cold soup

Summer, light, refreshing, in a hurry! Tarator is a traditional Bulgarian cold soup. It is especially relevant in the summer heat, when you do not want to stand at the stove. Fermented milk base is very useful for digestion. This dish perfectly combines simple and affordable products.

Natalia

Recipe author

Unfortunately, you have it turned off or not working Javascript . To work with most of the functions on our site, this is a necessary element. Contact your administrator to resolve this issue.

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Cucumbers

300

Yogurt (or kefir)

250

Dill (5 twigs)

Walnuts (cleared)

Garlic

Water

200

Olive oil

Salt

to taste

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 18 % 2 g

Fats 55 % 6 g

Carbohydrates 27 % 3 g

71 kcal

GI: 67 / 33 / 0

Step-by-step cooking

Cooking time: 15 min

Step 1:
How to make tarator Bulgarian cold soup? Prepare the necessary ingredients. The basis of the soup is fermented milk products. The classic tarator is prepared on Bulgarian unsweetened yogurt. But instead of yogurt, you can take kefir or yogurt of any density. Take mineral water without gas or purified bottled water.
Step 2:
First of all, wash the cucumber, dry it with a paper towel. If the skin of a cucumber is thick and rough, then cut it off. I cut off only part of the skin to make the cucumbers in the soup look brighter. It is better to remove large seeds. Grate the cucumber on a coarse grater. If desired, you can cut it into thin cubes. Add salt and leave for 5-7 minutes to release the juice.
Step 3:
Rinse the dill sprigs with running water and dry them with a paper towel. Remove the coarse stalks, and finely chop the tender greens. You can also take any greens that you like. The spicy flavor of the soup will be given by parsley, cilantro or celery.
Step 4:
Wash the walnut kernels and heat them in a dry frying pan. So their aroma will become brighter, and the taste will improve.
Step 5:
Grate garlic cloves on a fine grater, cut by hand or use a special press. If you want the soup to be sharper, increase the amount of garlic.
Step 6:
Chop the nuts in a convenient way. This can be done with a blender, rolling pin, mortar, or you can just chop with a knife. I crushed the nuts with a rolling pin.
Step 7:
In a deep bowl or small saucepan, combine the grated cucumber together with the released juice, garlic, nuts and dill. Mix it up. Leave a little dill and nuts for decoration.
Step 8:
Pour yogurt or kefir and vegetable oil into a bowl. You can take any vegetable oil to your taste. Perfect for: mustard, sunflower, pumpkin or flax. Unrefined oil is more fragrant.
Step 9:
It remains to dilute the soup with water. Add water in small portions, achieving the consistency you need. Mix the soup thoroughly until all the ingredients are combined. Try it and add salt and pepper to your taste. You can also add your favorite spices.
Step 10:
Bulgarian cold soup tarator is ready! Pour it into deep plates or bowls. Sprinkle dill and walnuts on top. Enjoy your meal!

As I wrote above, the classic cold tarator soup in Bulgaria is prepared on the famous Bulgarian yogurt. But if there is no yogurt, especially Bulgarian, you can make a tarator on kefir of any fat content. Or use any fermented milk drink of your choice.

Important! Regardless of whether the amount of water for soup is indicated in the recipe or not, it is best to focus on your own preferences (thick or more liquid soup you like), as well as on the size of your pan and the products taken for cooking. Do not forget that the author has his own view on the amount of meat, potatoes, cereals and other ingredients in the soup, which may not coincide with yours. In practice, this means that if you are cooking for the first time, you should not cook a whole pot at once. Make a soup for tasting - for one or two people. To do this, reduce the amount of all ingredients according to the recipe to 1-2 servings, and take the amount of water from the calculation: from one cup per serving - if the soup is very thick, to 1.5-2 cups - if more liquid. Do not forget to take into account that part of the liquid will boil off during the cooking process. After tasting a small portion of soup, you can adjust both the amount of liquid and the proportions of ingredients to your taste. In the future, like most experienced housewives, you will be able to pour water for soup and lay the ingredients “by eye".

The peel from cucumbers, if it is not rough, not damaged and not bitter, does not need to be cut off.

For cooking, it is better to use filtered or bottled water that is neutral to taste. If you use tap water, keep in mind that it can give the dish an unpleasant characteristic taste.