We start with the roasting of the garlic. If you prefer a sharper flavor of garlic, then you can skip this and use raw garlic. Take a head of garlic and cut it horizontally towards the top. Place it in tin foil, drizzle with some olive oil and add a pinch of salt. Close tightly the foil and place in a preheated oven at 160°C and roast for 90’. Remove from the oven and allow to cool so that you can handle it. After about 10’, unwrap the foil and squeeze 2 cloves into the mortar. Save the rest of the roasted cloves in a small container filled with olive for use in another recipe.

Next, we grill the pitta bread and keep aside covered to be kept warm.

With the garlic in the mortar add 1½ tbsp of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Work it to a paste and keep aside.

Grate the cucumbers and place them in a bowl lined with cheesecloth bag, along with a pinch of salt for the cucumber’s water to be released. Close the bag and squeeze to get rid of the remaining water. Keep aside.

Place the yogurt in a bowl, add the cucumbers, the dry mint, roasted garlic, the remaining 1½ tbsp of olive oil and vinegar and mix well. Taste and adjust both saltiness and acidity to your liking.

Add the chopped mint and mix gently. We transfer to a deep plate, garnish with mint leaves, couple of cucumber slices and drizzle with some olive oil. Serve with the warm pitta bread.