Creamy Urfa doner sauce with fermented paprika flakes

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 200 g Turkish yogurt, 10% fat
• 80 g paprika paste (Tatli Biber Salcasi), mild
• 40 g tomato paste
• 4 tsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp garlic powder
• 4 tsp paprika flakes (Isot or Urfa Biber), fermented
• 2 tsp sumac
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tbsp parsley, dried
• 4 tsp oregano, dried
• 1 tsp mint, dried
• 120 ml extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

Working time approx. 5 minutes; Total time approx. 5 minutes

Place all ingredients except the olive oil in a narrow, tall container and puree with a hand blender. It’s best to measure the amount of olive oil in a small measuring jug or weigh it in a glass (100 ml of olive oil weighs about 90 g), as the oil is then added in a thin stream into the container while you use the hand blender to emulsify the sauce until creamy. To allow the flavors to infuse, it’s best to refrigerate the sauce overnight. Notes and tips: Fermented red pepper flakes (Isot or Urfa Biber), like all the other ingredients mentioned here, can be found in any Turkish supermarket. You can also use Turkish tomato paste (Domates Salcasi). However, this is often much saltier than the typical triple-strength tomato paste from a tube. The mild red pepper paste used here (Tatli Biber Salcasi) also contains a considerable amount of salt. Fermented red pepper flakes are also usually only offered in a mixture with a little oil and salt, so using the rather salty Domates Salcasi instead of tomato paste would end up making the sauce too salty. It’s better to add salt at the end than to have too much salt hidden in the sauce from the ingredients used. The sauce’s flavor and spiciness will increase in the refrigerator. If you use fresh garlic instead of garlic powder, you should first adjust the amount of fresh garlic to your personal taste before emulsifying it with oil. If you want a slightly aniseed flavor, use dried dill instead of dried parsley, or a mixture of both. When using fresh herbs, you must reduce the quantities, otherwise the flavor of the herbs would be too overpowering. The sauce is made without ready-made mayonnaise or ketchup. Since the sauce doesn’t contain egg for binding, it’s vegetarian; with soy yogurt, it would even be vegan, making it a good match for vegan meat substitutes. The sauce quantity according to the recipe is approximately 125 g per serving. With the ingredients specified in the recipe, the finished sauce will keep for several days in a sealed container in the refrigerator.