Borani Esfenaj

Borani esfenaj is a cool, creamy dip of cooked spinach and garlic folded into thick yoghurt, finished with mint and golden onions.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 1h 20m
Cook: 15 min
Total: 1 hour 35 minutes
Vegetarian
✅
Nuts
❌
Serves
6 people
Difficulty
Medium

Ingredients

  • 500g fresh spinach (or 400g frozen leaf spinach, thawed)
  • 3 tbsp sunflower oil, divided
  • 2 onions, thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 400g thick Greek yoghurt
  • 1 tbsp dried mint
  • Salt and black pepper
  • Flatbread, to serve

Method

  1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large pan and fry half the onion for 5 minutes. Add the spinach in batches and cook for 3-4 minutes until wilted. Squeeze out all the liquid and chop finely. Cool completely.

  2. Fry the remaining onion in 1 tbsp oil for 15 minutes until deep golden, and set aside for the garnish.

  3. Mix the spinach and garlic into the yoghurt and season with salt and pepper. Chill for at least 1 hour.

  4. Warm the remaining oil, remove from the heat and stir in the mint. Spoon the dip into a bowl, top with the fried onions and drizzle with the mint oil. Serve with flatbread.