Yogurt Drink

AYRAN

TURKEY | LEBANON | SYRIA

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Ayran is one of the most refreshing drinks made with yogurt. It is called doogh or dugh in Iran and Azerbajian, ayran in Turkey and the rest of the Levant, and lassi in India and Pakistan. Ayran or lassi are often served as alcohol-free drinks with roast meat, kebabs, or biryani, and when lassi is made sweet, it is served on its own. I give three variations here: a plain Turkish ayran (with a variation for doogh), a sweet lassi, and a mango lassi. The best ayran I have ever had was in Konya, in Turkey, at a place that only served firni kebab (lamb cooked in fat in big copper dishes in wood-fired ovens) together with ayran. Their ayran was sour and frothy, slightly salty, and incredibly refreshing, a perfect accompaniment to the fatty roast lamb. As we finished our meal, a sporty-looking young man sitting across from us—I was with Nevin Halici, the grande dame of Turkish cooking—started asking Nevin questions about me in Turkish, finishing with a marriage proposal. She mischievously relayed everything he said to me so that I understood the conversation when I would have preferred not to, because at the end I had to graciously decline his offer, through Nevin of course. The exchange was very amusing, and the gentleman wouldn’t let us go without offering us a second round of ayran despite my not having accepted his extravagant proposal.

SERVES 4

2 cups (500 g) sheep yogurt (or goat or cow’s milk yogurt)

4 to 6 ice cubes

Sea salt

Put the yogurt, 1½ cups (375 ml) water, ice cubes, and salt to taste in a blender and process until frothy. Serve with more ice cubes if you want your ayran to be more chilled, although if you start out with refrigerated yogurt and water, your ayran will be chilled enough. Pour into 4 glasses and serve.