Grilled Courgettes with Warm Yoghurt and Saffron Butter (gf) (v)
This recipe is inspired by kousa b’laban, a Levantine dish of stuffed baby marrow cooked in yoghurt. In this simplified version the yoghurt sauce and grilled courgettes are cooked separately, then served with a quick saffron butter to spoon on top.
There’s a bit of an art to cooking yoghurt without having it curdle; stabilisers such as cornflour and egg yolk tend to do the trick, as does cooking the yoghurt on a moderate heat, stirring continuously and gently warming through without boiling. The result: a silky-smooth and tangy sauce, great for these courgettes but also with other grilled veggies, fatty meats or even as a sauce to pasta.
30 grams unsalted butter¼ teaspoon saffron threads, roughly crushed4 small, pale green or regular courgettes, tops trimmed slightly and courgettes halved lengthways (600 grams)2½ tablespoons olive oilsalt and black pepper1 teaspoon cornflour300 grams Greek-style yoghurt2 garlic cloves, crushed½ teaspoon dried mint¾ teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted and roughly crushed with a pestle and mortar1½ tablespoons picked mint leaves½ lemon
