Dugh

Ingredients

Drink

• 500 gjurghot or thick strained yoghurt
• 1 litrecold water
• 1½ tsp salt
• a large handful of mint, chopped
• ice

Optional

• sparkling water
• grated cucumber
• dried mint

Directions

1. Break the yoghurt up in a large jug with a whisk until it is loose and even.
2. Add the salt and only about 200 ml of the water, and whisk it to a completely smooth paste before any more goes in.
3. Smooth at the thick stage or lumpy for ever. Add all the water at once and small lumps of yoghurt hang suspended in salty water and never disperse.
4. Whisk in the remaining water gradually, until it pours like thin cream.
5. Stir in the chopped mint and taste for salt. It should be properly salty rather than faintly so, because that is what makes it refreshing.
6. Chill it hard, or serve it straight over plenty of ice.
7. Add sparkling water at the last moment if you want it fizzy, which many people do.
8. Stir the jug before each pour. It separates within minutes and that is entirely normal.
9. It is shared with Iran and Afghanistan, and jurghot, the strained sour yoghurt of the mountains, is what it is made from at home.

Technique

• Thick first, thin later. Every lumpy dugh comes from adding the water too fast.
• Under-salted it just tastes like watery yoghurt. Salt it more than feels right.
• Fresh mint and dried mint taste quite different here, and plenty of households use both.

Substitutions

• Greek yoghurt thinned with rather more water.
• Ayran, doogh or chalap, all of which are the same drink under other names.

Variations

• With grated cucumber, which takes it towards a cold soup.
• With dried rose petals, which is done in Iran.
• Made fizzy with sparkling water for summer.

History

Shared with Iran and Afghanistan; jurghot is beaten with water, salt and mint.

Frequently asked questions

What is Dugh?

Dugh is a drink from Tajikistan: salted yoghurt drink with herbs, served cold through the summer. Shared with Iran and Afghanistan; jurghot is beaten with water, salt and mint.

How long does Dugh take to make?

Dugh takes 10 min of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes 1.5 litres. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Dugh?

Yes, within limits. Greek yoghurt thinned with rather more water. Ayran, doogh or chalap, all of which are the same drink under other names.

What is the most important thing to get right in Dugh?

Smooth at the thick stage or lumpy for ever. Add all the water at once and small lumps of yoghurt hang suspended in salty water and never disperse.