Reviewed: Nov. 10, 2012

I totally omitted the extra oil in this recipe, as I felt it was unneeded. When I made this, I wanted a warm sauce, so I browned the garlic in the pan I cooked the beef in and then added the yogurt to it. I think it would work fine with a cold sauce as well. I also used an extra clove of garlic and added a little more salt and pepper to the sauce.

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Reviewer:

mkstevens09

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Ortonville, Michigan, USA

Living In: Lake Orion, Michigan, USA

Reviewed: Mar. 28, 2012

Holy cow! This was WAY better than I thought it would be! I omitted the pine nuts, used ground turkey and whole wheat pasta and added a sprinkle of parm cheese and lemon zest! Like I said, HOLY COW! Really great!

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Reviewer:

scarlettohara66

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Glen Ellyn, Illinois, USA

Reviewed: Jan. 7, 2012

This is a great recipe with few changes. It is also very authentic (my Jordanian boyfriend makes the same thing). Increase finely minced garlic to 4 cloves and season generously with salt and pepper. I cooked 1/2 medium onion chopped with meat. Instead of cooking the pine nuts with the meat, I use silvered almonds and fry them in the frying pan alone and sprinkle at the end (this will keep the nuts to be crunchy). I also like to garnish with copped parsley. With these changes, the past is amazing, flavorful and so creamy. (its hard to believe that it's all yogurt! no cream or butter!)

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Reviewer:

hello kitty

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Reviewed: Dec. 7, 2011

needed more garlic, pasta too hard, and kids didn't like the looks of it (at least one of the kids) another disaster!

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Reviewer:

mabuhay

Cooking Level: Beginning

Reviewed: Oct. 14, 2010

Two quick points: a) It IS bland, regardless of whether it tastes good or not. The way you can spruce it up is as follows: 1. Be a bit generous with the salt and garlic (while mixing it with the yoghurt before adding the pasta) 2. Add about 2-3 tablespoons of mild hot sauce (not tabasco or anything strong, closer to louisiana hot sauces) 3. Keep in mind: this is a cold dish. The only hot ingredient here is the meat and pine nuts. The rest- including the pasta- should be refrigerated. and b) If you want to do without the 37 grams of fat, replace the 2 tablespoons of corn oil with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, use only half a cup of pine nuts, and use low-fat yoghurt. This brings it down to the 20 gram range. Enjoy!

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Reviewer:

thathathachampishere

Reviewed: Aug. 11, 2010

I don't know what one of the reviewer, who gave 1 star was talking about when he/she mentioned garlic doesn't go with yogurt. I live in the Middle East and that is very much the case. Curries is mainly in Indian/Pakistani Dishes not so much in Middle Eastern. There is another recipe on here which uses the same ingredients except for meat and that's also excellent!

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Reviewer:

Fehmina

Reviewed: Jul. 10, 2009

I was disappointed. Sounded great made it for a friend who loves this kind of cuisine. It was ok.... Very bland. Maybe ok as small side dish, but definitely not main dish. Not worth keeping the recipe or making again.

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Reviewer:

alemana

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Prince Frederick, Maryland, USA

Reviewed: Apr. 6, 2009

This was not good. It was bland and the yogurt cooled everything down to make lukewarm pasta. I don't understand why folks like this.

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Reviewer:

spmulligan

Reviewed: Feb. 27, 2009

Very good. I wanted to try something Georgian just because I'd never sampled food from that area of the world and wanted something that used a different pallet. this was good and easy to make from ingredients available in the US!

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Reviewer:

Shralp

Reviewed: Oct. 6, 2008

This is a kick go-to recipe, my mom used to make it all the time when we were kids and we still love it. My additions are that I add 2 TBSP of Tahini (sesame paste) to the yogurt, a dash of lemon, and a bit more garlic than in this recipe. Use a thicker spaghetti or a thin linguine. Also, and this is the BEST tip that makes it yum yum delicious...you want to drain the pasta, and then put it back in the pot and add the yogurt...mix a bit of meat in with the yogurt and heat it through. It tastes sooo much better than when its just cold. Top with the meat and you're ready to go. Its so delicious!

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