Persian yoghurt soup

• Whisk Greek yoghurt and cold water in a bowl - about four parts yoghurt to two/three parts water. Season with salt and pepper. Your grandmother will thank you for it.

• Add skinned/seeded/diced cucumber and mint.

• Then mix in your choice of roasted pistachios, roasted walnuts, pine nuts, dill, coriander, chives, parsley, sultanas, tomato, pomegranate, spring onion, apricot, dried fruit. (My selection is in bold.)

• Chill.

• Sprinkle with sumac before serving with whatever grilled bread you can get your hands on. I used naan.

What did it taste like? It's rather refreshing and delicious. The separate flavours all tasted good, but I don't know if a) they all came together successfully into one well-balanced soup, or if b) the combination was too sophisticated for my barbaric pallate. There are all kinds of regional variations on this soup which in fact range from dip to drink, the most well known perhaps being tzatziki and lassi at the respective ends of the scale. With my leftovers, I plan to add some spring onion and serve it as a kind of salad with some grilled lamb chops, as I feel this may be the alternate destiny to this delightfully fresh dish. I will let you know how it goes.

Tips: If you have crossed the city to procure sumac, don't forget to sprinkle it on the top before serving, especially if you are taking photos of it for your blog.

Update: Indeed it was amazing with lamb chops. I added a bit of spring onion and the combination was a treat.