A beautiful Beet borani

I found a copy of Sam and Samantha Clark's Moro East in a the nook of a used book shop last week and got so excited that I decided to surprise the other half with something before she made it home from work. Moro is a London restaurant run by a husband-wife team that specialize in Moorish influenced cooking but there happens to be a borani (Iranian yogurt dip) recipe in this book and seeing as how, Mina, the other half of The Salty Pear is Persian, it seemed appropriate. We also had some beets that had been in the fridge and borani recipes are very simple, though this one takes some time for the beets to cook.

Recipe: Beet borani
(blender or food processor needed)

2 beets whole, boiled then skinned
2 cups plain yogurt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
a pinch of salt
1 small bunch of dill (substituted a teaspoon of dehydrated dill)

Start by bringing 6 inches of water to a boil in a large sauce pan, then place whole beets skin on into the water, covering securely with a lid. The beets will take an hour to ninety minutes to cook thoroughly, so you'll have plenty of time to cook a protein or click around on foodblogs while your home fills with the aroma.

When a fork will sink into the beets they're ready to peel. Set aside and cool in the sink or somewhere they won't stain for 5 to 10 minutes. Next, run cold tap water over them and peel by hand. Get out your blender or a food processor and add 2 cups of plain yogurt, a minced clove of garlic, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a pinch of salt and some dill, then give the beets a chop and drop them on top. Puree the whole mix until it's got a nice velvety consistency and the gorgeous magenta hue of a hot lipstick. Unfortunately :(because of the weather in Texas) there's no fresh dill in Toronto right now, so I added a teaspoon of the dehydrated dill. But usually you would chop a small bunch of dill and stir it into the blended beet and add a sprig top garnish.

We had the borani as a sauce on top of grilled salmon, but it was just as good if not better the next day as a cold dip for some lavash flat bread. It will also work as a sweet marinade for lamb or goat once barbecue season returns to the Canadian tundra.