Shinena

Ingredients

The base

• 600 glaban
• or thick plain yoghurt
• 500 mliced water
• or more, to taste

To season

• 1 teaspoonsalt
• or to taste
• 1 teaspoondried mint
• crushed, optional

To serve

• plenty of ice cubes
• tall glasses
• well chilled
• with grilled meat

Sometimes added

• a squeeze of lemon
• a little crushed garlic
• cucumber, finely grated

Directions

1. Salt replaces what heavy summer sweating takes away. It must be served extremely cold to work at all. Discard it if it smells sharply sour or unpleasant. A sharp or yeasty smell means it should be discarded. Put the laban into a large jug or a mixing bowl.
2. Whisk it smooth before any water goes anywhere near it. Thick set yoghurt lumps badly if water is added first. Break it down completely with a whisk or a fork. It should be entirely smooth before you go further. Whisk the iced water in gradually rather than all at once.
3. Add a little water and whisk it in completely smooth. Then add a little more and whisk it smooth again. Taste it as you thin it down toward what you want. Stop when it pours as easily as thin milk does.
4. Stir the salt thoroughly into the thinned yoghurt. It should taste clearly and definitely salty to you. Add the salt gradually and taste as you go along. Under-salted shinena tastes thin, flat and watery.
5. Taste it cold, since cold mutes salt considerably. Crush dried mint between your palms before adding it. Rub it firmly between your hands over the jug. Try it plain first and add mint if you want it.
6. Whisk or shake the drink hard just before serving. The froth is part of how it should be served. Fill any shaking bottle no more than two thirds full. Hold the lid down firmly with your palm as you shake. Shake it over a sink to be genuinely safe about it.
7. Fill tall glasses with plenty of ice cubes first. That keeps it cold right through the whole meal. Fill each glass generously with ice before pouring. Pour the shinena over the ice in each tall glass. Make it slightly stronger than you want it to end up. The ice brings it down to about the right point. Stir or shake it well before every single pour. It is drunk ice cold from a tall glass with ice.

Technique

• This is an uncooked cold dairy drink and must stay refrigerated throughout, keeping about two days. Yoghurt drinks continue to sour slowly as they sit, which is normal, but a sharp or yeasty smell means discard it.
• Whisk the laban entirely smooth before any water goes near it, then add the iced water gradually, whisking smooth between additions — thick set yoghurt lumps badly if water goes in all at once.
• If you shake it in a bottle, fill it no more than two thirds and hold the lid down firmly with your palm; a poorly sealed bottle sprays yoghurt everywhere, so shake it over a sink.

Substitutions

• Thick plain yoghurt stands in for laban directly. Jordanian shanineh is essentially this same drink, and Turkish ayran and Iranian doogh are close relatives — doogh is often carbonated where shinena rarely is; the atlas records them as separate but closely related.
• Crushed dried mint, a squeeze of lemon, a little crushed garlic or finely grated cucumber all appear in versions, though the plain salted one is the more common.

Variations

• The salt is the defining element, never sugar: under-salted it tastes thin and watery, over-salted it becomes undrinkable, and the right point is clearly savoury but still refreshing. Taste it cold, since cold mutes salt considerably. Salt replaces what heavy summer sweating takes away, a real practical reason in Iraqi summer heat, and the atlas records that traditional reasoning without medical claims.
• It should pour as easily as thin milk rather than being spoonable; roughly equal parts yoghurt and water is a starting point and households vary it considerably.
• Put the ice in the glass rather than the jug so it stays cold through the meal, and make the drink slightly stronger than you want since melting ice thins it. Whisk or shake it hard just before serving for the froth, and stir it before every pour — thinned yoghurt separates as it stands, which is entirely normal.

History

Iraqi laban thinned with iced water and salt, the standard companion to grilled meat in summer.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shinena?

Shinena is a drink from Iraq: salted yoghurt drink served ice-cold with kebabs and rice. Iraqi laban thinned with iced water and salt, the standard companion to grilled meat in summer.

How long does Shinena take to make?

Shinena takes 10 minutes of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Shinena?

Yes, within limits. Thick plain yoghurt stands in for laban directly. Jordanian shanineh is essentially this same drink, and Turkish ayran and Iranian doogh are close relatives — doogh is often carbonated where shinena rarely is; the atlas records them as separate but closely related. Crushed dried mint, a squeeze of lemon, a little crushed garlic or finely grated cucumber all appear in versions, though the plain salted one is the more common.

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

Salt replaces what heavy summer sweating takes away. It must be served extremely cold to work at all. Discard it if it smells sharply sour or unpleasant. A sharp or yeasty smell means it should be discarded. Put the laban into a large jug or a mixing bowl.