Simple Spinach Dip

 For the Avant Garde Cookies this time, my hush-hush ingredient was spinach given to me by my partner Jayanthy. I had some fresh baby spinach handy which i used to put this dip together...

Ingredients

• 2cups of baby spinach leaves
• 2 red chilies
• 1.5 cups of thick yogurt (greek would work)
• 1tbsp of spices 
• 1tsp olive oil

Method

1. Sautee the spinach with 1 tsp of olive oil and the chilies. 
2. Add salt. cook and remove from heat
3. If the yogurt has some whey, use this to grind the spinach not too smooth
4. Add the yogurt to the blended spinach
5. Top this with 1 tbsp of spices of your choice - Tzatsiki, or your home blend of thyme, garlic, parsely, oregano etc
6. Whip it in until blended well
7. Refrigerate until ready to use.

We enjoyed ours with steamed sweet potatoes!

Goes to Avant Garde Cookies -Check out the other AGC thoughout this week 

Anusha, Jayanthi, Kavitha, Radhika, Veena, Priya S, Roshni

Apple, Almond & Pepper Chutney/Spread

Red Pepper chutney has always been a hot favorite in our home. But I was making a non- Indian sort of meal, and was looking to make something that was delicious that could at once be spread over toast bites, dipped with chips, steamed veggies or even pita and go well with dosais, in subsequent use. the versatility of chutney needs no elaboration from me. But let me just say that if I have a chutney around, lunch ideas become really simple - spread them over tortillas, throw some greens and or beans into it and sink your teeth in. My kids tend to do that when they come home hungry after school. Peppers have a beautiful flavor and are incredibly delicious as chutneys and spreads.

The recipe without further ado
Ingredients


1/2 each of red and orange peppers
1 fine red apple (I used pink lady)
1 tomato
1/2 red onion
2 red chilies
2tbps Porto (sweet Red wine) Optional
2 tsp of olive oil (1 to saute and one to drizzle over the finished chutney
a small fistful of slivered almonds

Preparation
Roast all the ingredients - save the porto to add before griniding - do no cook it
Grind adding NO water -
Chill before serving

Linking this to my own event - The Chutney Chow Down

Kanda Bajjis (Onion Fritters)

This is the fourth post for Blog Hop Wednesday started by Radhika of Tickling Palates– This time, I was paired with Bhagyashri of Taste Buds – She has a number of interesting recipes, but since I was shortchanged for time, so I picked a simple one although it was a fried one :( -AI am sorry to break the healthy spree of recipes that I’ve been posting with this universal favorite fried weakness! The dish is Kanda Bajji (pakoras or fritters) and here is the recipe with a few personal tweaks.

Ingredients

Besan 1 cup

2tbsp rice flour

1 big red onion

½tsp turmeric

3-4 Green chilies

Salt

A pinch of asafetida

Curry leaves

Grated ginger 1tbsp

Cilantro

Oil for frying

Preparation

Dry mix all ingredients except the onions and mix

In a wide pan, heat 1 tsp of oil and gently fry the onion without browning them too much – just to get rid of the raw taste

Add to the bowl and knead

I do not use any water in my mix - The water from the onion and the oil use to lightly fry is is plenty to knead this -
It should basically be some batter holding the onion strips together!

Heat the oil to fry and drop small quantities of batter to make the fritters

 Serve as is or with ketchup

Stuffed Snake Gourd - day 1 of this week's blogging marathon

Kick-starting the 7 day marathon started by Srivalli of spiceyourlife.blogspot.vom with this new dish which can be a healthy appetizer or a side dish.
Once I’d bought the snake gourd, I was contemplating the usual poricha kootu or curry with it, but then an idea struck me and I went with it – this is what it turned out to be

Ingredients
2 snack gourds 12 inches long, pitted and slit ¾ of the way
For the Stuffing
½ Onions,
½ cup of peas,
½ of cubed carrots
½ cup of grated cheese
2 green chilies cut small

Spices – I used
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp curry powder
A touch of
Cumin
Mustard seeds
Asafetida for tempering

Preparation
Sprinkle salt water and cook the snake gourd for 3-4 minutes in the microwave,
In the meantime, Prepare the curry like you would any dry sabzi by tempering the spices, add the onions, lightly frying before adding the other veggies.
Add salt to taste
Do not use the cheese at this time
Remove the gourd from the microwave and stuff the prepared curry using s small faced spoon, careful not to break the gourd beyond the slit
Top with cheese

Note: I tied the gourd so that they would not splay apart while in the oven

Set oven at 400
Put the gourds on a greased pan
Cook for 15 minutes

Untie the gourd before serving. Eaten best with Chappati


Mummified and ready to go!


cut and serve hot as a healthy Starter or with main course!

Starting my seven day blogging marathon with my 24 fellow bloggers
Bhagi Pavani Champa, Padma, Sowmya, Gayathri, Harini, Minu, Meena, Priya Suresh, Rujuta, Saraswati, Santosh, Savitha, PJ, Shobana, Smitha, Priya Vasu, Usha, Veena, Jayashree M, and Srivalli, who has started this wonderfully challenging event :)

Priya Mahadevan,