Persian Yogurt Beet Dip Recipe | Must-e-Laboo

Colorful, creamy and delicious Persian yogurt beet dip is a simple and easy to make recipe. Great to serve as a dip/ mezze, dressing or with warm flatbread and curry.

I picked the alphabet 'P' and country 'Persia' for the final day of this week's blogging marathon. Technically Persia is not a country anymore and it is used interchangeably with Iran but I took the liberty to use it anyway.

The Persian dish I have today is very simple and is practically no-cook. There are just a handful of recipes required to make this colorful dip/ appetizer.

Quick and Easy Yogurt Beet Dip:

This beets and yogurt dip is so inviting and colorful. It is worth trying this dish for just the looks of it. It is easy and can be made in less than 10 minutes. Here are the 3 main ingredients needs to make this:

• Cooked Beets
• Thick Yogurt
• Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper

How to Cook Beets:

Beets are one of those vegetables that are a little hard and take quite a lot of time to become tender. But they can be pressure cooked until tender quickly and easily.

• To cook beets in an Instant Pot: Pour about 1" water in the instant pot. Place scrubbed and cleaned beets in a steamer basket and cook on high pressure for 12~15 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes, open the lid and carefully take the beets out. Let them cool completely before chopping.
• To cook beets in a pressure cooker: Place scrubbed and cleaned beets along with some water in a pressure cooker. Cook for 2~3 whistles. Let the pressure release naturally before opening the lid.

Yogurt for the Dip:

Yogurt is a quintessential ingredient in many Middle Eastern cuisines similar to Indian cuisine. It is used in marinades, soups, appetizers, mains and even desserts. Also similar to Indians, housewives in the Middle east make their own yogurt almost every day.

You need thick yogurt for this recipe. It could be homemade or store bought Greek yogurt. I make yogurt in the instant pot every week and it turns out thick and yummy.

Fool proof No-boil Yogurt in Instant Pot:

Here's my instant pot recipe that makes the most creamy and delicious yogurt. It needs just 2 ingredients and less than 5 minutes of hand-on time.

• Ultra Pasteurized 2% or Whole Milk - I use Fairlife brand but any brand would work. I used UHT milk in UK during our recent visit and it worked beautifully. So look for ultra pasteurised or UHT milk.
• Yogurt Culture - The culture I use is almost 8 years old. I got it from my cousin and have been using it ever since. Look for 'live cultures' in the ingredient list when buying yogurt and it will work fine. Most Greek yogurts have live cultures in them and are great to use to make more yogurt.
• Make sure you have Yogurt feature on your Instant Pot. From what I have seen, only a couple of models don't have that feature. Look for the 'Yogurt' button.
• If making a lot of yogurt, simply use the inner pot. I use mason jars to make individual containers.
• Pour milk into your selected container. Add 2tbsp of culture if using inner pot and 2tsp in each mason jar.
• Pour about 1" deep water in the instant pot. Place the inner pot directly inside or place the mason jars on a rack.
• Close the lid, press yogurt and set timer for about 7 hours. Determining the exact time will take a couple of trials. Mine gets done in 6:30 hours.
• Once done, refrigerate the yogurt and enjoy!!

How to make Beet Yogurt Dip:

Once you have both the beets and yogurt ready. The recipe will take less than 10 minutes to put together. Finely chop the cooked beets and stir into the whipped yogurt. Season with olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix well and serve.

How to serve Persian Yogurt with Beets:

This is a colorful dish that is great to serve as a dip or as a part of a mezze. It can used as a dressing instead of regular dressing - just spoon it into the middle of a green salad.

Linking this to Valli’s BM# 109 and don’t forget to check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked up today.

Few more Middle Eastern recipes to try:

• Naan-e-barbari
• Iranian Jeweled Rice
• Koshari