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The "qurut" in qurutob is what Tajiks, Turkmen, and Uzbeks call the dehydrated dairy preparation known to Iranians as kashk, Armenians as chortan, and Turks as kurut. Ubiquitous and beloved across the Middle East, the Caucaus, and Central Asia, today's dried dairy balls are not so dissimilar from those with which, according to Marco Polo, Genghis Khan's soldier's once fortified themselves:

"They have dried milk, which is solid like a paste. It is dried like this: they boil the milk and skim the cream off the top, putting it in another vessel to make butter. Then the milk is put out in the sun to dry. And when they go to war, they each carry about ten pounds of this dried milk. In the mornings, they each take half a pound of the milk and mix it with water in a little leather flask shaped like a bottle, which they keep with them as they ride until the milk has been shaken up and has dissolved into a syrup. Then they drink it for breakfast." 

Lucky you - you don't need any qurut to make this salad (though, by all means, if you have some, go for it!). Instead, I've given you a recipe for a tangy yoghurt dressing, redolent of the American ranch dressing of my youth, but healthier and much more delicious, with which to dress this Tajik bread salad. And honestly, is there anything better than bread in a salad, soaking up a vinegary dressing while occassionally maintaining a crunch? No. The answer is no, there is not anything better, and there are not many salads better than this one either.

Note: These amounts will give you more dressing than you need for this salad, so you'll have some for next time. It will keep in the fridge for about 1 week.

• 3 toasted pita breads, roughly torn into pieces
• 1 head of romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
• 1 cucumber, sliced
• 50g walnuts, shelled
• 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 red onion, very thinly sliced
• Freshly chopped herbs e.g. coriander, dill, chives to garnish

Dressing (makes 320ml)

• 250g full-fat Greek yoghurt
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp onion powder
• 10g chives, chopped
• 5g dill, chopped
• 5g coriander, chopped
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• Dash of worcestshire sauce
• Freshly ground black pepper

In a medium bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients. Mix well, then add cold water, a tablespoon at a time, to thin out the dressing to your liking. Give it a taste. You may find you want more of a certain flavour; by all means, add it.

Combine the bread, lettuce, cucumber, walnuts, and tomatoes in a large bowl. Mix well, then toss with a generous (or stingy) few tablespoons of your personally seasoned salad dressing. Serve the qurutob either in that bowl or on a platter, topped with the red onion and some herbs.