Nura’s recipe
This is a personal favorite, especially enjoyed during the summer months.
Servings: About 4
Ingredients
2 c. plain yogurt
2 cucumbers, peeled and seeded
1/2 c. walnuts, chopped
1/2 c. currants or chopped raisins
1 T. parsley, chopped
2 t. dried crushed mint
2 t. dried crushed basil
Dried chives or fresh green onion
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Chop or coarsley grate the cucumbers. Stir all ingredients together. Chill for 1 hour to let the herbs rehydrate. This salad is even more refreshing when fresh herbs are used.
Recipe © Nura Amerson 1991
Layli’s Reflections
As the weather gets warmer, salads transform from something I force myself to eat to stay healthy in the cold months to a welcomely invigorating part of a meal. Flavorful masto khiar is, as my mom notes in her recipe, a particularly stellar summer dish.
To prepare it, I used only fresh herbs. I recently had the epiphany that mint and green onions can be propagated from the bunches bought in the grocery store. (The mint took a while to grow roots, but, to my pleasure, it is now growing happily on my balcony. The green onions, which of course come with roots, started growing as soon as I put them in a glass of water.) With the harvest from my new herb garden, the masto khiar turned out delectably!
Layli Maria Miron 