Roasted Eggplant and Garlicky Dip

This is such an easy and healthy dip that would go well with pretty much everything. It tastes great with dosa, cooked rice, toasted bread, pita chips and crackers. The garlic adds so much flavor, the red onions give it a nice crunch and the chunky eggplants adds a great texture. And last but not least, you will get a guaranteed 'good great job' pat from your spouse just like i did. And here goes the recipe,

Ingredients:

2 medium Eggplants (or 1 large)

10-12 Garlic pods

4 small Green Chilli (finely chopped)

1/4 cup Red onion (finely chopped)

1/4 cup Cilantro (finely chopped)

2 tbsp Olive oil

Salt

 How to:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Wash the eggplants, cut the stem off and make 4 slits lengthwise.

• Open the slits gently and stuff the garlic and green chilli.

• Place the eggplant on a foil, sprinkle salt and drizzle olive oil over it.

• Wrap the eggplant tightly and place it in a oven safe dish and bake for an hour.

• Once baked, remove the foil immediately and carefully slide the roasted eggplants into the dish.

• Cut  the eggplants and mash'em along with the skin and check the salt for taste.

• Let it cool completely, add the onions and cilantro, mix well.

• Serve at room temperature or chilled with chips or crackers.

Baked Spicy Sweet Potato Fries with Garlicky Lemon Yogurt Dip

Fries are one of the addictive finger foods, nobody can stop just eating one. These baked ones taste better than the fried ones with extra crispiness. You can taste the sweetness from the potato and little heat from the spicy seasonings at the same time. Also these sweet potato fries are a great healthy snack option, as they are rich in dietary fiber, vitamin A and C. The dip is made from Greek yogurt and other dried herbs and seasonings. The regular yogurt is strained to remove the whey, that results in thick and creamy textured Greek Yogurt. That is why it is higher in protein and low in carbohydrates and sugar.

These are super easy to prepare and makes a great pair. So dump the fast food restaurant's deep fried french fries and opt for endless baked fries at home. And here goes the recipe,

Baked Spicy Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients:

1 Sweet Potato

1tbsp Garlic Olive Oil

1/4tsp Paprika

1/4tsp Cayenne Pepper

1/2tsp Cumin powder

Garlic Salt, to taste

Ground Black Pepper, to taste

 How to:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and keep it aside.
• Cut the sweet potato into strips with 1/2 inch thickness. (wash and dry completely before cutting'em, otherwise it might end up soggy.)

• In a bowl, to the sweet potato strips, add all the remaining ingredients and give it a good mix. (You can replace or leave out any of the seasonings, if you don't want to use the listed ingredients.)

• Now arrange the potato strips on the baking sheet without touching each other and bake'em for 15 mins, flip and bake for another 10 mins or until crispy.

• Serve hot with a dip as a snack or an appetizer.

Garlicky Lemon Yogurt Dip

Ingredients:

5.3oz Greek Yogurt

2 Garlic cloves (minced)

1tsp Lemon Juice

1/2tsp dried Parsley flakes

1/4tsp Season salt (it has salt, paprika, celery, turmeric and black pepper)

1/4tsp Cumin powder

Ground Black pepper, to taste

How to:

• Mix everything together and make it smooth. Check salt for taste and add fresh herbs if you have it handy.

•  Serve alongside fries or baby carrots.

Garlic Hummus

From the day 1 of my visit to a neighborhood restaurant 'Aladdin Gyro-cery', i started having an affair with the gyros, falafel, pita breads, baba ghanoush and hummus. Did i say the whole menu? Looks like i did. Oops! missed the dessert, moist baklava and lovely basbousa. Me & Senthil love to dine there. They serve this awesome hummus with the falafel plate and pita breads. It tastes  so good, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sumac. Wondering what sumac is? 'Sumac' is a shrub, which produce sumac bobs,a dark-red fruit cluster with a seed at the center. They are ground and used as a spice to give a tangy, lemony taste. The chickpeas are a great source of protein and dietary fiber, totally healthy.

Coming to the recipe, i used few extra garlic pods to make hummus, garlicky. Also, I sprinkled paprika, as i didn't have sumac in my pantry. There are quite a number of add-ins along with other ingredients, one reader suggested adding 'garam masala powder', that's an awesome idea of making hummus 'Indian style'. You be creative. My garlic hummus tasted very good with soft pita pocket breads, we just scooped up the dip and every mouthful was a moment to treasure. Next time, am gonna add few more garlic pods and make Extra Garlic Hummus.

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked /1 16oz can Garbanzo beans (Chickpea)

6 pods Garlic

1/4 cup Lemon juice

1/3 cup Tahini paste

3/4-1 cup Water

1tsp Cumin powder

1-2tbsp Olive oil

Salt

Paprika, Cilantro (for garnishing)

How to:

• Blend together the garbanzo beans, garlic, lemon juice, tahini, cumin powder and water along with salt. 

• Pour the water 1/4 cup at a time to find the right consistency. Also taste as you go along and add salt as needed. You can also add 1/2 of the olive oil while blending, for a smooth textured dip.
• Transfer the blended mixture to a serving plate or bowl, swirl it with a fork, sprinkle some paprika for bright color, drizzle the remaining olive oil and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serve with pita breads or chips.


I thought, i would add this banner for my readers to understand that the recipe is completely healthy.

Sending this dish to the following events:


A.W.E.D.MENU hosted by niloufer started by DK

CWF: LB - Chickpeas hosted by Nithu and started by Kiran


MLLA 27 an event by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook.

Naan (Indian bread)

Ingredients:

3 cups +2tbsp All purpose flour (Maida) (latter, for dusting)

1/4 cup warm Milk

1 cup warm Water

1tsp Fast rise Yeast

1tsp Sugar

3/4tsp Salt

1/2tsp + 2tsp Oil 

3-4 Garlic pods (minced)

How to:

• In a bowl with water, add salt, sugar, milk, 1/2tsp oil and yeast, give it a good stir and let stand for 6-8 mins.

• In a large bowl, measure the all purpose flour and slowly add the yeast mixture and start kneading.

• Then apply some oil in the palm(to avoid sticking), also drizzle the remaining on the dough and keep kneading until the dough is soft and smooth. 

• Wrap it up and let rest for 40 mins in a warm place for the dough to rise. (I kept it inside the oven.)

• Once the dough doubles in size, punch it with your fist and remove the air inside.
• Divide the dough into lemon-size balls and flatten it with a rolling pin on a flour-dusted surface. (Do not roll it thin. I made both plain and garlic naan.)

• Sprinkle the minced garlic on top of the dough and gently press it with the rolling pin.

• Heat the broil to high, with the rolled dough on a non-stick cookie sheet, place it on the top shelf.

• Let broil for 3 mins, flip it and broil for couple more mins or until brown spots appear.

• Remove it and drizzle ghee over the naan and place it in a container.

Serve hot with cauliflower/paneer/chicken curry. 

Ref recipe:

http://usmasala.blogspot.com/2010/06/naan_27.html