Tzatziki Sauce

My first ever post on a classic yet simple "Greek" recipe, Tzatziki sauce. Incase you are hearing it for the first time, don't let the name "Tzatziki" intimidate you, as this is the greek version of our very own "Indian Raita" but flavored with garlic, olive oil, lime juice, mint/dill leaves and cucumber. 

Eggplant Pesto

Hello there.. it's been long time since I have posted anything on the blog.. just couldn't recollect when my last post was. I decided to ditch my poor little blog to have a relaxed and enjoyable summer vacation. All these while, I was pretending to be busy (in a way I was..), while having a good time with my family & friends. I intended to catch-up with blogging after my vacation, but warm-up time took a little longer than expected. Otherwise, things are perfectly fine at my end. 

So here I am, finally, dusting off my blog with a simple recipe for eggplant pesto, a pesto that you could use as a spread in sandwich or as a pesto for pasta or as a dip for chips/veggies.

Roasted Red Bell-Pepper Pesto

Use it as a dip or as a smear on your breads & bagels, use it as a sauce for pizza or on your pasta, this is one of the most aromatic & flavorful pesto around!

My daughter is a big-time fan of pasta, she is crazy about anything & everything in the name of pasta, right from simple, plain pasta to sauce-based (marinara/alfredo) to pesto-based, of all kinds. She never, and I mean never gets bored of pasta! This is one of the recently added recipes to our pesto list!

Tamarind chutney

Popularly, called as sweet chutney, adds a sweet & sour flavor to chaat varieties. Tamarind, being the main ingredient of this chutney gives a nice tangy taste. Chutney gets it sweetness from one of these - jaggery/dates/raisins/sugar. I have used jaggery in this recipe. This sweet & sour chutney can also be served alongside samosas, cutlets etc.

Basic Info

Complexity - Simple

Prep time - 20 mins

Cook time - 5 mins

Serves - about 3/4 cup

Ingredients

Tamarind - 1/4 cup (packed)
Powdered jaggery - 1/4 cup
Water - 1 cup
Roasted ground cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp or to taste
Red chili powder - 1/4 tsp
Ground black pepper - 1/4 tsp
Ginger powder - 1/4 tsp

Method

Bring 1 cup of water to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and soak tamarind in the boiling water for atleast 15 mins.

Let it cool and use your hands to squeeze and extract as much pulp as you can from the tamarind (do not add water). Use a sieve to strain just the pulp. Discard seed & membranes.

To this filtered tamarind pulp, add rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Green Chutney

This vibrantly green, cilantro & mint based chutney is easy to make and very flavorful. Chaat varieties are considered to be incomplete without this chutney. Perfect accompaniment for crispy Indian snacks.

Basic Info

Complexity - Simple

Prep time - 5 mins

Cook time - 5 mins

Serves - about 3/4 cup

Ingredients
Cilantro - 1/2 cup (packed)
Mint - 1/2 cup (packed)
Green chillies - 2 nos
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
Ginger - 1/4 inch
Salt - 1/2 tsp (or to taste)
Hing - a pinch

Method

Use a mixer and grind everything together into a fine paste (without adding water).

Guacamole

Here 's a perfect recipe for the Mexican classic "Guacamole" made with ripe avocados, lime juice, jalapenos, onions & cilantro. Enjoy fresh avocados while you can with this tasty homemade dip! Pair up with some tortilla chips or top any of your favorite mexican recipes and simply scoop it up!

Basic Info
Complexity - Simple
Prep/cook time - 20 mins
Serves - about a cup of guacamole

Ingredients

Avocado - 2 nos (Medium sized, ripe)
Shallot - 1 no (Medium sized)
Jalapenos - 1 no (de-seeded) (I used thai chillies instead)
Cilantro - 1/4 cup
Lime - 1 no (Medium sized)
Salt - to taste

Method

Chop shallot/chillies/cilantro into very fine pieces and set aside. Juice the lime and set aside.

Cut the avocado into 2 halves, remove the seed and using a spoon, scoop out the avocado from the peel.

Now, using the back of a fork, roughly mash the avocados. Don't over mash it. Leave a few chunks of avocado and it adds to the taste. Add lime juice, shallot, chillies, cilantro, salt and give it another nice mix & mash. Guacamole is ready to be served!

Note:

• Guacamole tends to lose its bright green color and turns black when exposed to air. So, cover it with a plastic wrap touching the surface of the guacamole and refrigerate until use.
• Use ripe avocados for a great tasting guacamole. To check its ripeness, gently press on the outside of avocado. It should be slightly soft yet firm to the touch.
• You can also add finely chopped ripe tomatoes to the guacamole.
• Avocados are high in mono-unsaturated fat that helps in lowering blood cholesterol levels.
  
  

Tomato Dip

This recipe is a cross between tomato raitha & tomato dip. Tomato raitha is nothing but cooked tomatoes mixed with yogurt and tomato dip is usually fresh tomatoes mixed with sour cream. 

My recipe for tomato dip calls for cooked tomatoes to be mixed with sour cream. It is easy to make, colorful, and tastes delicious. I prepared this today to go with pudhina roti and both made a great combo.

Ingredients

Finely chopped medium sized tomatoes - 3 nos
Yogurt - 1/2 cup
Sour cream - 1/2 cup
Chilli powder - 1-2 tsp
Salt to taste
Hing - 1-2 pinches
Oil - 1 tsp

Method
Heat oil in a pan, and toss in all the chopped tomatoes. Add chilli powder, salt, hing and cook until tomatoes become soft. Let it cool.

Add the cooled mixture to yogurt + sour cream base, and adjust salt level.

Serve it alongside chapathi / roti / parathas.

Tips:

• You can also splutter mustard seeds and add it to the dip.
• You can garnish it with cilantro.

Kathirikkai Thogayal

Kathirikkai (eggplant) thogayal is a spicy condiment that is eaten with hot rice and crispy papad on the side. Eggplant is VJ 's first love (no kidding!!!) and this thogayal is one of his favorites.

In India, we roast eggplants directly over the open flame (or) on gas stovetop. But in US, my kitchen only had an electric range and I just couldn't figure out how to roast eggplants to make this thogayal.

On a terribly chilly night, I decided to make this thogayal and started roasting eggplants directly on the electric coil, only to end up with smoke all over my kitchen. To make things worst, the smoke alarm went on and I had to open all the doors & windows to let the smoke escape. Chilly weather, rumbling tummies, empty vessel and smoke all over the house - life couldn't get any more worse, or could it?! That night, I was very close to give up on this thogayal. Then, something just told me to try conventional oven for roasting eggplants and boy, was I glad?!

This thogayal also serves as a great savory spread for chips, bread, bread crisps, roti (or) just with anything!!

Basic Info
Complexity - Simple
Prep time - 20-25 mins (includes roasting eggplants)
Cook time - 5 mins

Serves - 1.5 to 2 cups of thogayal

Ingredients

Eggplant - 2 nos

Hing - 1 small piece

Dry red chillies - 6 nos

Urid dal - 2 tbsp

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Tamarind - size of a gooseberry

Salt - to taste

Method

Cut the eggplants lengthwise into 2 halves. Broil at 400 degrees for about 15 - 20 mins (or) until inner side of the eggplant turns brownish black (see pictures). Let it cool.

Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup of hot water and keep it aside.

In a pan, add a tsp of oil and fry hing. Add cumin seeds and let it sizzle. Then, roast red chillies, urid dal until golden brown. Allow it to cool.

Scoop out just the flesh and grind it along with the roasted ingredients & soaked tamarind (drain the water). Add salt to taste and mix well. Smokey, spicy eggplant thogayal is ready to serve & eat!!

Tips:

- You can also add a handful of cilantro while grinding - a great flavor boost to thogayal!

- Sending this off to Made with Love Mondays!