Green Lentil Salad with Rice
July 1, 2011
Potato Salad
July 11, 2011
Gypsy Salad (Cingen Pilavi)
Although the original name, Cingen Pilavi means Gypsy Pilav when translated word by word, this is a salad. It is only known in a small region in Western Turkey. It is a very simple recipe that mainly consists of tomatoes and peppers with olive oil dressing. The key ingredient here is a kind of curd called “cokelek”. It is a byproduct of the process used in making butter. It is sort of like cottage cheese, except it is very dry and flaky. This salad is part of a typical Turkish breakfast in the summer, but, commonly served with lunch as well. For the lunch version dry onions are added to the recipe. I cannot find this special curd in California, so I substitute feta cheese. You can also substitute cottage cheese. But if you do that, I suggest that you put it in a strainer first, letting the juices drain before adding to the salad.
Ingredients:
- 2 large tomatoes diced
- 2 sweet green peppers, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 small onion, cut in half and thinly sliced (optional)
- ½ cup curd (cokelek) or feta cheese, crumbled
- 1 teaspoon dry oregano (optional)
- 3-4 black or green olives for decoration
- Salt to taste
Directions:
Mix tomatoes, peppers and onions(optional) in a bowl. Transfer to a serving plate. Add crumbled feta cheese to the top. Sprinkle dry oregano(optional). Garnish with olives.
Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!
