Greek Style Layered Dip

Probably last week I saw this recipe in Kevin's blog and the same week I tried it.  It's a very simple recipe with layers of hummus,tzatziki , chopped cucumber, tomatoes, feta cheese and olives.  Hummus is a very popular middle eastern dip almost everybody will be familiar with this.  Hummus is made with a blend of chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice and garlic.  This is generally used as a dip for pitta bread, you can also serve  with fresh cut vegetables.
Tzatziki is again a Greek dip, made with strained yogurt, cucumber and fresh mint leaves. Actually the idea of making a perfect tzatziki I got it from my friend Schmetterling words.  She said to get a perfect tzatziki we have to squeeze out juice from the cucumber completely and a thick greek style yogurt.  Right let's see the ingredients for the layered dip...


Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Serves 2


Ingredients:
For Hummus:
Dried chickpeas- 100 g
Tahini- 1 tbsp
Garlic- 2 cloves
Lemon juice- 2 tbsp
Olive oil- 4 tbsp
Salt to taste
For Tzatziki:
Greek yogurt- 150 ml
Cucumber- 1(10 cm size)
Garlic- 2 cloves
Fresh mint leaves- 2 stalk finely chopped
Salt to taste
For the layers:
Cucumber- 1 ( 10 cm size)
Tomato- 1 medium sized( chopped into cubes)
Feta cheese- 75 g
Black olives- 7 to 8 chopped

Method:
Prepare the hummus:
Soak the dried chickpeas in water for 1 whole night.  The next day  add enough water to the chickpeas until it's completely immersed and pressure cook for upto 4 whistles. Add the cooked chickpeas, tahini, grated garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt to a food processor.  Grind it to a coarse paste. If it doesn't grind well add some more oil.  Take the hummus and keep it separately.

Prepare the Tzatziki:
Peel and grate the cucumber, press it through a sieve to squeeze out the juice from the cucumber completely. Grate the garlic and chop the mint leaves finely. Mix the yogurt, cucmber, mint, garlic and salt.

Note:
If you can't find Greek yogurt in your place.  Place the normal yogurt in muslin cloth and squeeze out the excess water.

Prepare the layers:
In a wide plate or bowl, first spread the hummus, then tzatziki.  And on top of that add the chopped cucumber, tomatoes, feta cheese and olives.

Serve the dip immediately with tortillas or pitta bread.  If you are planning for a party.  Prepare the hummus and tzatziki earlier and put it in your refrigerator.  Just before serving prepare the layers and serve.

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Baba Ganoush With Sfeeha( Meat Pie)

Baba ganoush and Sfeeha are traditional Middle eastern recipes. I know you might wonder by looking at my bread why it looks like this. Actually sfeeha is a meat pie, made in bread dough stuffed with meat, it usually has folds in the side, since I didn't give a proper fold, when the bread raised, stuffed meat became like a topping. So yeah it became a cross between pizza and pie.
Baba Ganoush is also well known Middle eastern dip. You can serve this pitta bread, tortilla or even normal bread. Baba Ganoush is made with mashed eggplant and different seasonings.
Baba Ganoush

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves:2
Ingredients:
Eggplant- 1
Yogurt- 3 tbsp
Tahini- 1 tbsp
Lemon juice- juice of 1 medium sized lemon
Garlic- 3 cloves grated
Olive oil- 2 tbsp
Parsley or coriander leaves- 1 tbsp chopped
Salt as required
Method:
Preheat the oven to 250 degree celsius. Slice the eggplant into half, drizzle with olive oil. Roast it in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the skin looks blackened. Take out the eggplant, scoop the middle out, put it in a blender along with the other ingredients except parsley and blend it to smooth. Serve it in a bowl by sprinkling some parsley and drizzled with olive oil.
You can store the baba ganoush in a clean box for up to 1 week in your refrigerator.

Sfeeha( Meat Pie)

Preparation Time: 45 minutes( for dough and the filling)
Cooking Time: 1 hour( For the bread and the filling)+ rising time for the dough
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
For the dough:
White Bread Flour- 300 g/ 12 oz
Dried yeast- 1 1/2 tsp
Warm water- 120 ml / 5 oz( adjust accordingly when making the dough)
Sugar- 1 tsp
Olive oil- 2 tsp
Salt- 1 tsp
For the filling:
Minced meat- 200 g/ 8 oz
Paprika powder- 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp
Green pepper- 1 chopped
Onion- 1 chopped
Tomato paste- 2 tbsp
Olive oil- 1/2 tbsp
Salt as required
Method:
For the dough:
Mix all the dough ingredients to make it into a smooth dough. Place the dough in a clean oiled bowl and cover with a cling film, leave it in a warm place to rise for about 1 to 2 hours. Meanwhile prepare the filling.
Prepare the filling or topping:
Heat the oil in a pan, add ginger garlic paste and onion. Fry it till the onion becomes transparent. Then add the meat, paprika powder and salt. Mix it well, cover the pan, keep the heat in medium and cook till the meat is completely cooked. Add the chopped green pepper, keep the pan opened and cook till all the water dries out. Allow the mixture to cool completely.
Prepare the bread:

Take the raised dough, punch the air back. Divide the dough into 7 to 8 balls. Grease a 23 cm loose bottomed round tin. Place the balls in the pan leaving some space, flatten each ball with your fingers. Mix the filling with the tomato paste and keep the filling in the middle of each round. Cover the pan loosely with cling film and allow it to rise for another 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius.
Bake the bread for about 30 minutes.
Serve the bread warm with salad, yogurt, babaganoush or hummus.
Sfeeha and Babaganoush goes to Taste Of  Lebanon- Monthly Mingle hosted by Dirty Kitchen Secrets started by Meeta.

Sfeeha goes to Yeast spotting, Babaganoush goes to my own event Any One Can Cook .

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Redcurrant Jam

Redcurrant are tiny little glossy fruits which attract me everytime when i go to market.
 Redcurrants are also rich in fibre. The health benefits of red currant include blood cleansing, diuretic and for good digestion. It is also said that tea made from the redcurrant leaves helps to ease the symptoms of rheumatism.
Normally in UK redcurrant are used to make redcurrant jelly which they serve with sunday lamb roast. In germany they use the redcurrant juice along with soda water to have a refreshing drink.
 I have used redcurrant to make some jam which keeps for a long time. To see the sterlisation technique for jam bottle and how to make jam click here.
Ingredients:
Redcurrant- 2 cups
Jam sugar- 3/4 cup
Lemon juice- 1/2 tsp
Method:
Wash the redcurrant well and remove any small stalks sticking to the fruit. In a saucepan mix together the redcurrant, sugar and mix well. Heat the pan in medium heat, keep stirring it. After sometime you can see it becomes liquid, then it starts boiling. Keep stirring without sticking to the bottom of the pan. To check the consistency of the jam, pour a spoonfull of jam in a cold plate and slide it slightly, it will move slowly, this is the right consistency. You can get a clear idea from the link i have given.
At this stage, switch off the flame, pour the jam into the sterilized  bottles, let it cool down for a while and close it with a lid.
You can keep this jam for upto 6 months in your fridge if your bottles are properly sterilized.
Variations:
Instead of redcurrant you can also use strawberries, blackberries etc...

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Mixed Pulses Vadai

TRIED AND TASTED FROM DIL SE.....

This recipe is tried and tasted from Dil Se . Divya has a very good collection of mouthwatering and healthy recipes. When i was going through her recipes it was quite hard for me to choose, all recipes were unique, finally i went for this nutritious mixed pulses vadai. I was amazed to see her creation of this vadai recipe with all mixed lentils.
This is one among her must try recipes. The different mix of pulses make this vadai much more healthier than the normal vadai.
To give it a natural twist they are presented in reused, eco-friendly, economic regular Indian kiosks' packaging :-).

Lentils are rich source of protein and iron so it plays  a very important  role in vegetarian diet. To read more about lentils click here.
To see the original recipe of Divya click here.
Ingredients:
Chickpeas- 1/2 cup soaked overnight
Green Moong dhal-1/2 cup soaked for 10 hours
Moong dhal Split- 1/4 cup
Channa Dhal- 1/2 cup
Urad Dhal- 1/2 cup
Whole black pepper corns- 6 to 7
Ginger- 1/2 inch finely chopped
Onion- 1 small sized finely chopped
Curry leaves- 1 stalk
Salt as required
Oil for deep frying
Method:
Soak the chana dhal, urad dhal and  split moong dhal for 2 hours. Grind it along with chick peas and moong dhal to a coarse paste. Add onions, ginger, crushed black pepper corns, curry leaves and salt , mix well.
Heat oil in a kadai, take a teaspoonfull of mixture in your hand, drop it in the oil. After 2 minutes turn to the other side and cook till it turns golden brown. Serve warm with chutney.
Note: The Temperature of the oil should be such that when you drop  a small portion of the mixture, it should come up immediately. This is the right temperature to fry.
This recipe goes to the event Tried and Tasted hosted by Versatile Kitchen.

Nigella Chutney:

To accompany this vadai i made some nigella seeds chutney, recipe follows.
Ingredients:
Nigella seeds- 1 tsp
Coconut- 2 tbsp
Tamarind paste- 1/2 tsp
Garlic cloves- 1
Peanuts- 1 tbsp
Dried red chilli- 1
Salt as required
Method:
Grind together all the ingredients in a blender to a smooth paste. Serve with vadai, dosai or idli.

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Avocado Kulipaniyaram

Kulipaniyaram is a special and popular snack in Tamilnadu which is prepared in a special pan. There are various flavours in kulipaniyaram, it can be made sweet or savoury. In this recipe i have added the creamy avocado flavour to the kulipaniyaram which is accompanied with a spicy sun dried tomato chutney. Soft and crispy paniyaram with the mild avocado flavour along with a spicy chutney will make you a ideal tea time snack.
Serves 3 to 4
Makes about 20 paniyaram
Paniyaram:
Ingredients:
Avocado-1
Urad dhal- 1 cup
Raw rice - 1 tbsp
Onion- 1/2 chopped finely
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Salt- as required
Oil- for frying
Method:

Soak the urad dhal and rice for 2 hours, grind it into a smooth paste adding a little bit of water. Just before frying add the mashed avocado and mix well. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds, when they start to splutter, add it to the batter and finely chopped, salt and mix well.

Heat a kulipaniyaram pan, add about a teaspoon of oil in each round, pour spoonfull of batter in the round. Keep the flame in medium to low, after 2 or 3 minutes, turn them around. To check if it's cooked, insert a skewer and check if it comes out clean. Take them out and repeat it with remaining batter.
If you don't have a kulipaniyaram pan don't worry, heat oil in a kadai and deep fry them like normal bhaji's or pakoras.
Serve warm with chutney.

Sundried Tomato Chutney
Ingredients:
Sundried Tomato-5 pieces
Grated fresh coconut- 1 tbsp
Walnuts-5 nuts
Garlic-2 cloves
Dried red chilli- 2
Curry leaves-5 leaves
Salt as required
Method:
Grind all the ingredients together in a blender with little water to a smooth paste, serve with paniyaram, dosa or idli's.
This recipe goes to Priya's Veggie/ Fruit A Month Event.

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Mixed Nut Chutney

I made this chutney with a combination of nuts instead of using only peanut. I have used here equal amount  of nuts like almonds, walnuts and hazelnut. You can also choose any nuts of your choice but try to avoid cashew and macadamian  nuts, as they are high in fat.
Ingredients:
Walnuts- 1 tbsp
Almonds-1 tbsp
Hazelnut-1 tbsp
Curry leaves-4 to 5
Dried red chilli-2
Tamarind-1/2 tsp soaked in water
Garlic pods-2
Salt as required.
Method:
Grind all the ingredients together in a blender along with the tamarind extracted from water.
Serve the chutney with dosa, idli or even as a dip for bread.

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Broccoli Savoury Biscuits with Avocado Muhammara

These brocccoli biscuits are made with all goodness of  peanut butter. Recently in few recipes i came across this muhammara, it's nothing but spicy red pepper dip made with walnuts, pomegranate syrup and sometimes spices, what i think is different way of making chutneys. These muhammara can be used as a dip for pitta breads or even as a sauce for kebabs. Traditionally muhammara is made with only red pepper, but i have used avocado along with redpepper although the colour of red pepper is dominated and no trace of avocado green. Alright here comes the recipe.
Broccoli Savoury Biscuits:

Ingredients:
Plain flour-150 g
Peanut Butter-50g
Sunflower oil-30 ml
Bicarbonate of soda-1/4 tsp
Grated Broccoli- 3 tbsp
Salt-a pinch
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200 degree celsius. Sift the flour, soda and salt in a large bowl, add the peanut butter and sunflower oil, broccoli and knead together to make a dough, if the dough doen't come together add some water to make it into a dough. Take walnut size balls from the dough, roll it into a smooth balls, flatten it slightly with your palms and place it in a greased and lined baking tray. Repeat the process with the remaining dough. Bake it in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. To check the biscuits are cooked, moved the biscuits slightly with one finger, if it moves freely then the biscuits are done.
These biscuits can also be served with hummus or any other spicy chutney.

Avocado Muhammara:

Ingredients:
Avocado-1
Roasted Red Bell Pepper-2
Fresh Bread crumbs-1/4 cup
Walnuts chopped-1/4 cup
Pomegranate molasses-1/4 tbsp
Red chilli flakes-1/2 tsp
Ground cumin-1/2 tsp
Lemon juice-1/2 tbsp
Olive oil-1/2 cup
Salt- as required
Method:
Remove the flesh out from the avocado. When you are using fresh red pepper, roast in the oven in high temperature until it blackens outside, let it cool down, remove the outer dark skin. Blend all the ingredients together in a blender to a smooth paste.
Serve the dip with breads, savoury biscuits or as a sauce for kebabs.
This recipe goes to the event Priya's Veggie/Fruit A Month Event
This recipe goes to the  Green Gourmet Event by Preethi's Write Food, relishing recipes and gourmet travel.

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Coconut Almond Chutney

This is a basic coconut chutney, in which i have replaced the pottukadalai with almonds.
This recipe goes to the event  Healing Foods-Onion  hosted by Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes started by Siri's  Corner.

Ingredients:
Fresh grated coconut-1/2 cup
Whole Almonds-6 to 7
Small onions-4 to 5
Dried red chilli-2
Ginger-1/4 inch
Tamarind extract-1/4 tsp
Salt-as required
Seasoning:
Curry leaves-4 to 5
Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
Dried red chilli-2
Oil-2 tsp
Method:
Dry fry the almonds in a pan for 3 minutes. Peel and chop the small onions. Grind all the ingredients together in a blender to smooth paste along with some water. Pour the chutney in a serving bowl. Heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds and then add the curry leaves and dried red chilli. Pour the seasoning on top of the chutney. Serve with dosas or idlis.

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White Asparagus Chutney

Asparagus known as Spargel is grown in France,Italy,Netherland and Germany.What's interesting about this white asparagus is the plant is deprived from sunlight to grow.When i first came to Germany,i was able to see many fields covered with white sheets,then i learnt that it was white asparagus.The plant is completely covered with white sheets to avoid sunlight.White asparagus is slightly less bitter than the green ones.
Asparagus are high in folate,the stalk is high in antioxidants.The second century physician Galan described as 'cleansing and healing'.To read more about asparagus click here.

Normally these asparagus are served for breakfast or as a starter with poached eggs or hollandise sauce.The recipe which i have made here is South Indian style spicy chutney which i discovered from Yasmeen's Healthnut,a blog full of healthy,creative dishes.The sweetness of asparagus and hot chilli married well each other.This chutney is a best accompaniment for dosa's or idli's,even as a spread for bread.To see the original recipe of Yasmeen Healthnut  click here.This recipe is for the event BlogBites 3 Adaptation.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
White Asparagus-5 to 6 stalks
Tomato-1/2 chopped
Dried red chilli-2
Garlic cloves-2
Curry leaves-a few spring
Salt as required
Oil-2 tsp
Seasoning(optional)
Oil-1 tsp
Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
Method:
Prepare the asparagus first,snip the edges off,peel and wash well.Cut into small chunks.Heat oil in a pan,add red chilli,garlic,asparagus,tomato and curry leaves,cover the pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
Switch off the flame,add everything to the blender along with salt and little bit of water,blend it to a smooth paste.Pour it in a bowl,heat oil in a pan,add mustard seeds,when they start to splutter,pour it on top of the chutney.Serve with idlis or dosas.

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Peanut Butter Savoury Bites

Peanut Butter is  a super sports food said by Nancy Clark  an internationally known sports nutritionist and nutrition author.Peanut Butter is satisfying and perfect for dieters. It also reduces the risk of heart disease,high source of protein,it's also good for diabetes. To read more about peanut butter click here
This recipe is for the event Food for Ailment and Old Age by Food For 7 stages Of Life

Serves 2
Ingredients:
For the savoury bites:
Plain Flour-150g
Rolled Oats-30g
Peanut Butter-60g
Egg yolk-1
Zuchinni-50 g grated
Olive oil-1 to 2 tbsp
Baking powder-1 tsp
Bicarbonate of soda-1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Chilli powder-1/2 tsp
For the topping
Cumin seed-1 tsp
Egg white-1 beaten lighly
Method:
Sift the flour,baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl,add turmerice powder,chilli powder to it mix well.Now add peanut butter,oats and mix well.The mixture should look crumbly. Then add the grated zucchini and olive oil,the dough should come together like a sticky dough,if not add some water.

Preheat the oven to 180 degree celsius.Roll out the dough between two sheets of baking paper,cut them into diamond shapes,brush the egg white on top,sprinkle cumin seeds on top,cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.Take it out from the oven,separate them into individual pieces,increase the oven temperature to 200 degree celsius,place it in the oven for another 10 minutes.
Serve warm with tomato chutney.
Recipe for Tomato Chutney:
This is the basic recipe for tomato chutney almost every South Indian will know this,it goes well with the savoury bites.
Ingredients:
Tomato-1 roughly chopped
Onion-1/2  roughly chopped
Dried red chilli-2
Curry leaves-a few spring
Garlic-2 cloves
Salt-to taste
Oil-2 tsp
Method:
Heat oil in a pan,add curry leaves and dried red chilli.Add the onion,tomato and salt,cover the pan and cook until the tomato gets mashed up.Remove from the pan and blend it into a smooth paste in a blender. Serve with savoury bites.

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Avocado Hummus

Ingredients:
Chickpeas 1 can
Avocado-1
Garlic pods-3
Olive oil-2 to 3 tbsp
Tahini-2 tsp
Salt as required
a few coriander leaves to sprinkle
Method:
Drain the chickpeas from the can saving a few chickpeas to serve. Scoop out the flesh from the avocado.Blend together the chickpeas,avocado,garlic,olive oil,tahini and salt to form a coarse paste.
Pour the paste into a bowl,make a well in the center add the remaining chickpeas and olive oil. Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves on top.
Serve with bread.

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Guacamole

Guacamole is a spicy mexican dish made with avocados. It can be served with tortilla chips or inside a mexican wrap.

Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado

1/2 a onion

1/2 a tomato

1 dried red chilli

1/2 tbsp of coriander leaves

1 garlic clove

juice of 1/2 a lemon

salt as required

Method:

Put all the ingredients together in a blender and blend it to a coarse paste, season it with salt and pepper, top it up with some more chopped onion, tomato and coriander leaves. Cover it and keep it in the fridge until you serve.

Freshly made taste better.

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