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Yogurtlu Basti

A Turkish dish in which yogurt, an important feature in Turkish cooking, is flavored with cardamom and ginger.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    serves 4

Ingredients

2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom, or the seeds, crushed
1 1/2 inches fresh gingerroot, grated, or crushed in a garlic press to extract the juice
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
A 3 1/2-pound chicken, cut into quarters, or 4 chicken fillets
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup blanched almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a bowl, mix the yogurt with the cardamom and ginger and let them infuse while you cook the chicken.

    Step 2

    In a large skillet, fry the onion in the oil till soft. Add the chicken pieces and sauté until the onions are golden and the chicken pieces lightly browned. Add salt and pepper and a cup of water, and cook over low heat—12 minutes for breast meat, 20 minutes for dark—until the chicken is very tender and the sauce reduced, turning the chicken pieces over and adding a little water if it becomes too dry.

    Step 3

    Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the yogurt. Serve sprinkled with almonds.

Cover of Claudia Roden's The New Book of Middle Easter Food, featuring a blue filigree bowl filled with Meyer lemons and sprigs of mint.
Reprinted with permission from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food, copyright © 2000 by Claudia Roden, published by Knopf. Buy the full book on Amazon or Bookshop.
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