Ayron

Ingredients

Base

• 500 gkatyk or thick natural yoghurt
• 500 mlcold water, or sparkling water
• 1 tspsalt, or to taste

Sometimes

• a few mint leaves
• chopped dill
• a little grated cucumber
• crushed ice

To serve

• very cold, in a tall glass or a bowl
• with plov, samsa or shashlik

Directions

1. Use full-fat natural yoghurt with no sugar and no flavouring. A thin or bland yoghurt gives a watery, characterless drink, since there is nothing else in it.
2. Whisk the yoghurt on its own first, before adding any water. Whisking it thick first breaks up the curd properly and gives a smooth drink, where adding all the water at once leaves lumps suspended in liquid.
3. Whisk it until it is completely smooth and slightly loosened. Add it in stages rather than all at once, keeping the mixture smooth as you go. It should be thin enough to drink easily rather than to eat with a spoon, and thick enough to coat the glass slightly.
4. Use cold water rather than room temperature, and chill the mixture afterwards. Ayron must be genuinely cold, since a lukewarm salted yoghurt drink is unappealing.
5. Add salt gradually and taste as you go. It should taste clearly salty, more so than seems right at first, which is what makes it refreshing.
6. Crush the herbs lightly before adding them, which releases far more aroma than adding them whole. Now serving it out, very cold indeed.
7. Serve it very cold, with ice if you like, in a tall glass or a wide bowl. Stir or shake it again before drinking. It keeps two days refrigerated and it gets more sour as it stands. Serve it with plov, samsa, shashlik or any rich meat dish, which is where it belongs.

Technique

• It is salted rather than sweetened, which is what makes it a hot-weather drink.
• Whisk the yoghurt smooth before adding any water.
• It separates on standing, which is normal, and needs stirring again.

Substitutions

• Thick natural yoghurt in place of katyk.
• Sparkling water for a lighter fizzy version.

Variations

• With mint and dill stirred through.
• Made fizzy with sparkling water.
• Chalop, the cold soup made on the same base.

History

Made from katyk and drunk in the heat; the base for the cold soup chalop.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ayron?

Ayron is a drink from Uzbekistan: chilled salted yoghurt drink thinned with water, sometimes with herbs. Made from katyk and drunk in the heat; the base for the cold soup chalop.

How long does Ayron take to make?

Ayron takes 5 min of preparation and none of cooking. The recipe makes 4 glasses. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Ayron?

Yes, within limits. Thick natural yoghurt in place of katyk. Sparkling water for a lighter fizzy version.

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

Whisk it until it is completely smooth and slightly loosened. Add it in stages rather than all at once, keeping the mixture smooth as you go. It should be thin enough to drink easily rather than to eat with a spoon, and thick enough to coat the glass slightly.