Garlic Wrecking Ball Toum-Style Dip Mix

Real toum is an emulsion that splits if you look at it wrong. This is not that. It's the flavour — raw-edged garlic, lemon, salt, a quiet lift of white pepper — dried into a pouch you stir straight into mayo you already own. Same wallop. None of the drama.

Why it works

Bottled garlic sauce has to travel cold, and it turns dull and bitter long before the jar is empty. A dry mix skips all of that: cupboard shelf, no cold chain, and you only make as much as you're about to eat. You also pick the base. All mayo gives you something thick and rich that clings to a wing. Half mayo, half thick yogurt gives you something lighter and tangier that you can eat a great deal more of. The garlic in here is granulated rather than roasted, so it keeps its raw bite, and the acid comes from dried lemon peel plus a touch of citric acid so it lands sharp rather than sweet. The twenty-minute rest is where the garlic rehydrates into the base — that's the difference between gritty and good.

What's in the box

• One 60 g resealable pouch — makes roughly 500 ml, which comfortably covers about 1.5 kg of chicken.
• Granulated and powdered garlic — the wrecking ball. Two grinds, because one hits fast and one hangs around.
• Dried lemon peel and citric acid — the sharp edge that keeps a rich base from going flat halfway through the bowl.
• White pepper — heat you feel rather than taste, which is why this is a 1 and not a 3.
• Salt, dried parsley, a whisper of sugar — seasoning, flecks of green, and just enough sugar to stop the acid biting.

How to cook it

1. Spoon 400 g of mayonnaise into a bowl. Want it lighter? Use 250 g mayo and 150 g thick yogurt instead.
2. Tip in the whole 60 g pouch. For a smaller batch, half the pouch into 200 g of base.
3. Whisk for 30 to 45 seconds, until the colour is even and there are no dry specks left round the sides.
4. Cover and rest in the fridge for 20 minutes. Not optional. Dried garlic needs that time to soften or you are eating powder.
5. Taste it. A squeeze of fresh lemon sharpens it, a splash of cold water loosens it, a pinch more salt wakes the whole thing up.
6. Serve cold. Keep covered in the fridge and finish within 3 days, or by the use-by date on your mayo — whichever comes first.

Heat, allergens & storage

• Heat: 1 out of 5. This is a garlic problem, not a chilli problem.
• Allergens: no declared allergens in the mix itself. Packed on equipment that also handles milk, mustard, sesame, peanuts and tree nuts. The mayonnaise you add contains egg; yogurt contains milk.
• Shelf life: 12 months unopened. Use within 3 months of opening.
• Storage: reseal and keep it cool, dry and out of the sun. Dry spoon only. Once mixed, fridge only, up to 3 days.