Orijinal Hatay Usulü Haydari
Hatay Usulü Haydari·(hah-TIE oo-soo-loo high-DAH-ree)
Baba'nın Mangalı (The Weekend Grill & Summer Nostalgia)
If you grew up with a Turkish baba hovering over a smoky backyard mangal in July, you know this smell. Before the lamb skewers even hit the coals, the kitchen was already heavy with the scent of dried mint sizzling in warm butter. Haydari isn't tzatziki—there's no cucumber, no watery weeping on the plate. It is a dense, unapologetically rich yogurt spread built to drag warm pita through or cut the fat of charred meats. The secret to making it taste exactly like it did back home in Hatay is simple: mash the feta until it's perfectly smooth, and bloom the mint in fat before it ever touches the dairy.
Before you start
Make your own labneh if you cannot find it.
If commercial labneh is unavailable, line a strainer with cheesecloth, place it over a bowl, and let whole-milk plain Greek yogurt drain in the refrigerator overnight.
Ingredients
- unsalted butter1 tbsp
- extra virgin olive oil1 tbsp
- garlic clove1 large
- dried mint1 tsp
- feta cheese in brine1 1/2 oz
- labneh1 1/2 cup
- fresh dill2 tbsp
- kosher salt1 pinch
- Aleppo pepper1 pinch
Method
- 01
Bloom the mint in the butter.
In a small skillet, melt the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat. The second it begins to gently bubble, immediately turn off the heat, stir in the dried mint, and let it toast in the residual heat for about 15 seconds. Set the skillet aside so the infused butter can cool completely to room temperature.
- 02
Crush the garlic into a paste.
Place the peeled garlic clove on your cutting board, sprinkle it with a pinch of kosher salt, and use the flat side of your knife to repeatedly crush and drag the garlic until it forms a fine paste.
- 03
Mash the feta into silk.
In a medium mixing bowl, add the drained feta cheese and use the back of a fork to aggressively mash it against the sides of the bowl until absolutely no lumps remain.
- 04
Combine the dairy and aromatics.
Add the labneh, garlic paste, and minced fresh dill to the bowl with the smoothed feta, mixing thoroughly until perfectly combined.
- 05
Fold in the cooled mint butter.
Pour the completely cooled mint-butter infusion into the yogurt mixture and fold it in gently until the green flecks of mint are evenly distributed.
- 06
Let it rest before serving.
Smooth the top of the mixture, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour so the garlic and mint can permeate the fats. Serve cold, swirled in a shallow dish, finished with a heavy drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of Aleppo pepper.
Notes
Do not mix hot butter with cold yogurt.
If you fail to let the mint-infused butter cool to room temperature before adding it to the labneh, the dairy will break and leave you with a greasy, unappetizing meze.
Feta saltiness varies wildly.
Taste your mixture before adding any extra salt at the end; the brine from the feta is often more than enough to season the entire dish.
From Cook Turkish in America.