Tag: dip

Coriander mint chutney

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Vibrantly green, punchy and fresh. It will do a dance on your tongue. Dip popadums in it, dot it on samosas, swirl it through yoghurt

  • 20 g fresh coriander
  • 20g fresh mint leaves
  • 1 green chilli, roughly chopped
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 2 tbsp water
  1. Use a hand blender or mini food processor to combine the ingredients into a loose paste
  2. That’s it. No step 2

Frijoles

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Is it a dip? (yes). Is it a delicious beany topping to a jacket potato? (yes). Is it brilliant on a Mexican rice bowl? (yes). Is it actually the nicest way to eat black beans? (yes!)

  • 40g butter (I know it sounds like a lot, but it’s worth it)
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1 red chilli, chopped
  • A handful of coriander stalks, chopped
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 400g tin black beans (decent quality is important here)
  1. Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over a low heat
  2. Tip in the onion, garlic, chilli, coriander and salt and cook for 8-10 mins until soft but not browned
  3. Pour in the beans and the liquid from the tin
  4. Stir together and heat gently, then use a hand blender to whizz it into a rough puree
  5. Serve at room temperature with a scatter of fresh coriander leaves

Avocado and broad bean dip

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The summery-est of the things you can dip pitta into!

  • 1 large ripe avocado
  • 400g broad beans (podded – frozen or fresh)
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 cloves confit garlic (or 1 clove of regular garlic, grated)
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Pinch of salt
  1. Cook the broad beans for 5 mins in boiling water
  2. Drain, run the cold tap over them to cool them off and then drain again
  3. Slip the bright green beans out of their pale jackets into a bowl
  4. Add the rest of the ingredients and use a hand blender to whizz them up into a chunky puree
  5. Serve with toasted pitta, salted tortilla chips, carrot sticks and crisp radishes. Or spread on toast. Or dress a pasta salad. Or dot onto cooked new potatoes. Or…

Nuoc cham

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

Fragrant, pungent and tasty. Use as a dressing for Vietnamese chicken salad, dip spring rolls in it, drizzle over beef lettuce wraps. Yum.

  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
  • 4 tbsp water
  1. Combine all the nuoc cham ingredients
  2. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved

Romesco

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Sauce or dip? Sauce or dip?… Either way, it’s nutty, sweet, savoury and more-ish. This is the postbox red Spanish cousin of muhammara. Highly recommended with paprika crisps or roast cauliflower or a grilled pork chop.

  • 100g blanched almonds
  • Handful breadcrumbs
  • 2 red peppers
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 50ml olive oil
  • Pinch of salt
  1. Pre-heat the grill to high
  2. Halve the peppers, remove the seeds and lay skin-side up on a baking tray. Pop the whole garlic cloves beside them
  3. Grill the peppers and garlic for 15-20 mins until the skin is blackened
  4. While the peppers blacken, toast the almonds in dry pan for 4-5 mins until golden
  5. Transfer the peppers to a bowl and cover with a plate. Leave to steam for 10 mins and then peel the skin off
  6. Peel the papery skin off the garlic cloves
  7. Put the roasted peppers, almonds, garlic, vinegar, smoked paprika, oil and salt into a bowl and blitz to a chunky paste. Add more oil if you’d like it looser

Harissa yoghurt

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Incredibly simple to make – it’s literally just stirring – but you’ll definitely want to dip EVERYTHING in it. Falafels, toasted pitta, carrot sticks, crisps, steamed green beans, your face. And then there’s the things you can put it on top of…

  • 5 heaped tbsp plain greek yoghurt
  • 1 tbsp harissa (I really recommend this sultry minx – https://www.belazu.com/shop/rose-harissa – which is also a total game-changer on a cheese toastie)
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • Pinch of salt
  1. Mix. That’s it. Mix until it’s a coral-hued bowl of pure delight and then off you go. Guaranteed to improve your mood.

Baba ganoush

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Smoky, bitter, creamy, sweet, nutty and enormously scoopable. Not altogether authentic, but still very good – and handily avoids the whole Explosion in the Oven scenario, which left me picking bits of auberine out of the fan for an hour last time I tried.

  • 2 aubergines, peeled and diced into 2cm chunks
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled, left whole and squished gently with the flat of a knife
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 100ml olive oil
  • 2 tbsp tahini
  • 1 tsp cumin
  1. Heat oven to 140C fan (160C)
  2. Put the aubergine and garlic in a baking dish, add the lemon juice, olive oil and salt and mix together well
  3. Cover with a tightly fitting lid or foil
  4. Bake for an hour (or more) until everything is squishably soft
  5. Tip the contents of the baking dish into a bowl and add the tahini and cumin
  6. Use a hand blender to whizz it up into a paste (or just squish with a fork for a rougher texture). Taste for seasoning and add more salt or lemon juice if needed
  7. For a looser dip, add another 100 ml olive oil before blending
  8. Try not to eat all of it at once before serving (sprinkled with pomegranate seeds or za’atar) next to a pile of hot toasted pitta strips for the scooping.

Turkish tomato dip

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

A recipe brought back from my parents’ holiday to Istanbul in 1997. You will 100% want to dip toasted pitta in this. And crisps. Maybe your fingers – just don’t get caught.

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 2 green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced/grated
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • Black pepper
  • Handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
  1. Heat the oil in a thick-bottom pan over a low heat and cook the onion for 8-10 mins until completely soft
  2. When translucent, add the garlic and chilli
  3. Cook for a further couple of mins, then add the tinned tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper
  4. Cook over a low heat until most of the moisture has evaporated
  5. Add the coriander and stir in
  6. Leave to cool to room temp and then serve

Dukkah

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This nubbly, nutty, spiced mixture is so good sprinkled over salads or steamed green veg. Use to garnish hummous or just dip bread in oil and then into this.

  • Large handful flaked almonds
  • Handful walnut pieces
  • 2 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds
  • ½ tsp ground allspice
  • Salt
  1. Put all the ingredients expect the allspice and salt into a small frying pan
  2. Heat over a medium flame until they start to turn golden
  3. Tip into a mortar and use a pestle to crush gently into a rubbly crumble
  4. Store in an airtight container once completely cool

Roast carrot hummous

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Not really hummous because no chickpeas, but bright orange, nutty and perfect scooped up by pitta chips.

  • 100g cashew nuts
  • 600g carrots, scrubbed and cut into chunks
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and squashed gently with the flat of your knife
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 3 tbsp tahini
  • Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
  • Couple of tsp za’atar
  1. Soak cashews for 2 hours in cold water, then drain
  2. Pre-heat oven to 190C fan (210C)
  3. Put the carrots, garlic, sesame oil, veg oil, cumin and a pinch of salt in a roasting tin and mix well before putting in the oven
  4. Roast for 25 mins until soft and starting to go brown round the edges
  5. In a bowl, mix the roasted carrots, tahini, lemon juice, pinch of salt and wet cashews. Use a wand blender or food processor to blend into a coarse paste
  6. Check the seasoning and add more salt or lemon if needed
  7. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of za’atar