Posts filed under 'Dips, chutneys & spreads'
Tangy tomatillo salsa
A simple and flavorful salsa using tomatillos. The recipe is easy and works really well with slight alterations to suit your palate and the level of spiciness.
Kind of food: Appetizer
How long: 15 min
Makes: 2 cups of salsa
Pot & Pans: Broil safe tray, blender/food processor, bowl to serve
Ingredients:
1 lb Tomatillos
4 garlic cloves (peeled)
2-3 green chili peppers ( 2-3 serrano peppers will make a mild salsa. add more if desired)
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 cup chopped cilantro (include stems as well)
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1/4 cup finely chopped tomatoes
How to make
Set the broiler on high. Remove the husk/skin from the tomatillos, rinse and pat dry. Place them on broiler safe tray. Place the peeled garlic cloves and green chili peppers on the tray. Place the tray under the broiler (about 2 inches from the broiler) for about 7-10 min till the tomatillos outer skin blisters (turn once after the first 5 min). Remove from the broiler, cool slightly. Blend all the ingredients except onions and tomatoes into a slightly chunky salsa. Pour into a bowl, mix in the onions and tomatoes. Serve with warmed/seasoned tortilla chips.
Keep it Smart, Short and Sazzy! – Anu
Tips, tricks & alternatives
The salsa stays good for a few days in the refrigerator.
When making large quantities for parties, make sure you refill a little at the time into the dipping bowl. So you can save the unused salsa for another time.
If the salsa turns out too spicy, you can mix in a little sour cream to adjust it. (note: if you add the cream, the salsa has to be used the same day)
Time saver tip: You can use canned tomatillos – skip the broiling part for the canned tomatillos. Rinse well and then use the canned tomatillos.
Serving Ideas
Serve with tortilla chips
Use the salsa on enchiladas, tacos and burritos.
presentation tip: Garnish with a fresh sprig of cilantro and a dollop of sour cream
Add comment December 17, 2008
Mango Shrikand
This is a recipe one can never go wrong with and can be done without a stove. So all dorm dwellers can cheer to that 
. This easy sweet dish hails from the western part of India and can also serve as an accompaniment to puris (fried bread), a sweet spread for a sandwiches or a wraps, a dip for fruits or a medium to blend fruit for a fruit salad. Shrikand can be made plain or with mango puree. When Shrikand is made with mangoes it is called “Aamkahnd” meaning Mango Shrikand.
Kind of Food: Desert / Side dish / Snack
How long: 5 minutes
Makes: 2 cups
Pots & Pans: Can opener, cloth to sieve such a cheese cloth (or muslin)*, strainer,
Ingredients
1 cup of Greek yogurt (or) 3 cups of plain yogurt
1.5 cups of mango puree (available in Indian/Asian grocery stores)
10 strands of Saffron
1/4 tsp of Cardamom powder
2 Tbs of Sugar
How to make
Strain Greek yogurt through a muslin (or cheese) cloth through placed on a strainer or collander for 15 minutes. Extract saffron essence. Mix the strained yogurt with mango puree and blend thoroughly. Mix in saffron extract, cardamom powder and sugar until all these are completely incorporated in the mixture.
Make it Fast, Fun, and Facile! – Sri
Catering to the adult palate
You could adjust the quantity of sugar or substitute it with sweetener.
Tips, tricks & alternatives
Shrikand can also be made without mangoes. To make plain Shrikand, follow the above procedure and instead of mangoes add powdered almonds (1/2 a cup of powdered almond for every cup of hung yogurt). You will need to add more sugar for plain Shrikand (approximately 1/2 cup – 2/3 cup for every cup of strained yogurt).
Plain Shrikand is best garnished with chopped nuts while mango shrikand is best garnished with the saffron threads. But these are personal preferences and may vary from one person to another.
Serving Ideas
Just by itself or a side dish.
Children love the idea of dipping and eating, so it serves as a good accompaniment for breads (rotis or puris).
It also work fine to mix cereal into it just like with flavored yogurt.
If you ever wonder your meal is not complete with a sweet dish, then this is a quick and easy dish.
Add comment November 4, 2008
Easy dipping sauces
Here are some easy dipping sauce ideas with ingredients that are mostly available in the pantry/refrigerator. These recipes are intentionally left without including the quantity of ingredients. Play with the ingredients, kick it up a notch for a spicy sauce or play safe for the kiddos by reducing the spicy ingredients mentioned here.
1. Nutty Asian sauce
Microwave peanut butter, soy sauce , rice vinegar (or any other vinegar) , chili garlic sauce and brown sugar. Add water to get desired consistency.
2. Sweet chilli sauce
Microwave any fruit jelly with chili garlic sauce and then add water to get desired consistency. Garnish with fine chopped herbs.
3. Ranch guac
Mix ranch sauce with guacamole for a creamy guacamole. You could spice it up with fine chopped green chilly.
4.Creamy Asian sauce
Microwave peanut butter, coconut milk, soy sauce , chili garlic sauce and brown sugar. Add water to get desired consistency.
5. Creamy cilantro/mint sauce
Mix home made or store bought cilantro chutney or mint chutney with well beaten yogurt. Sprinkle a little chat masala and cumin powder.
6. Spicing up good old ketchup
You could spice up ketchup by boiling it for a few minutes with your favorite garam masala or curry powder and chilly powder.
7. Easy queso (cheesy)
Microwave cheddar cheese with store bought salsa. You could add a pinch of cumin powder, a pinch of chili powder to kick it up a notch.
8. Roasted bell pepper balsamic vinaigrette / Sun dried tomato vinaigrette
Mix fine chopped roasted pepper or fine chopped sun dried tomato with balsamic vinegar, pepper, a pinch of salt and whisk in extra virgin olive oil.
9. Reduced balsamic vinaigrette
Boil on low heat vinegar with chili powder and roasted garlic. This vinaigrette should be used sparingly as it is reduced and will be very potent. Use it as a salad dressing or on bread for sandwiches.
10. Pesto mayo
Mix any pesto (basil/cilantro/mint/parsley) – be it store bought or homemade with mayo or thick yogurt for a quick sandwich/wrap spread.
11. Sweet Asian sauce
Microwave orange marmalade with soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, few drops of water and then add water to get desired consistency. Garnish with fine chopped scallions.
Make it Fast, Fun, and Facile! – Sri
3 comments July 25, 2008
Mint chutney
This chutney is ideal for kababs, grilled veggies, paneer and meat. It can be mixed with yogurt for kababs and with cream cheese to use as a spread for sandwiches and wraps.
Ingredients
1 Tbsp cumin seeds
1 bunch of mint
1/2 bunch of cilantro
4 green chillies (add more if you want it spicy)
4″ piece of ginger
8 pods of garlic (peeled)
2 Tbsp dry pomegranate seeds (available in Indian grocery store as anardhana seeds)
2 tsp black salt (available in Indian grocery store as kala namak. It is pink in color though:))
How to make
Grind all the above mentioned ingredients into a fine paste with very little water. Adjust for salt.
Make it Fast, Fun, and Facile! – Sri
Tips
A huge batch of this chutney can be made and frozen in ice cube trays covered with saran wrap for an hour. Once it is frozen remove the chutney cubes from the tray and place them in a ziploc bag. Label the bag as ‘mint chutney’ and the date, so you know when you made it. These frozen cubes are ideal to pick just the right portion you will need each time.
This chutney can also be used in tri-colored rice.
1 comment February 26, 2008
Green chutney for chaat recipes
This chutney is very easy to whip and can be used as spreads for sandwiches and in chat recipes.
Ingredients
1 bunch of cilantro
3 green chillies (add more if you want it spicy)
3″ piece of ginger
6 pods of garlic (peeled)
2 Tbsp dry pomegranate seeds (available in Indian grocery store as anardhana seeds)
2 tsp salt
How to make
Grind all the above mentioned ingredients into a fine paste with very little water. Adjust for salt.
Make it Fast, Fun, and Facile! – Sri
Tips
A huge batch of this chutney can be made and frozen in ice cube trays covered with saran wrap for an hour. Once it is frozen, remove the chutney cubes from the tray and place them in a ziploc bag. Label the bag as ‘green chutney’ and the date, so you know when you made it. These frozen cubes are ideal to pick just the right portion you will need each time.
This chutney can also be used in tri-colored rice.
1 comment January 6, 2008
