Homemade Chocolate Fudge Sauce

For the final day of this week's marathon under 'bookmarked recipes', I have this delicious Chocolate Fudge sauce. I made it couple of months ago and finally got a chance it post it here.

 Recipe is from Brown Eyed Baker. This chocolate sauce keeps for a very long time in the fridge and is great to drizzle over ice cream or fruit or pound cake or just eat it by the spoonfuls.

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Lehsun Chutney (Rajasthani Spicy Garlic Chutney)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 

Week 2: Rajasthani Cuisine 

Day 12: L for Lehsun Chutney

We are already in the middle of the week with Rajasthani cuisine. Today's dish is a super spicy and delicious Garlic chutney made in the Rajasthani style. It is a great condiment to serve with rotis or to use as a spread for sandwiches.

When I started researching for Journey through the Cuisines, the first step was to decide the 4 states I wanted to cook from. Then find the dishes in alphabetical order and the final step was to look for recipes from authentic sources. So I tried to cook from recipes that were posted by bloggers from respective states. Hence most of my Bengali dishes were from Bengali bloggers Sandeepa and Soma. I also tried to stick to the recipe as much as possible without many substitutions except for may be adjusting the ingredient quantities.

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Begun-er-Tok (Bengali Sweet & Sour Eggplant)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines
Week 1: Bengali Cuisine
Day 2: B for Begun-er-Tok (Bengali Sweet & Sour Eggplant)
Letter B in Bengali cuisine gave me a ton of recipes to try. B is for Begun or eggplant in Bengali and there were way too many recipes to choose from like begun bhaja, begun posto, doodh begun, doi begun, begun basanti and so on. In the end I decided to make this lesser known eggplant dish, Begun-er Tok from Soma's blog.

This is a traditional Bengali dish which is sweet, spicy and tangy, all at the same time. This way of cooking eggplant is very new to me which is why I decided to make it instead of the other more popular Bengali begun recipes.

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Skordalia (Greek Potato-Garlic Dip)

Skordalia is a traditional Greek appetizer dip made with whipped potatoes flavored with fresh garlic, almonds and olive oil. Serve at room temperature or slightly warm with warmed pockletless pita triangles or with crispy oven-roasted eggplant and zucchini.

This recipe is from 'Vegan Eats World' cookbook. I was so excited to see this creamy potato dip recipe that I made it right away for the Buffet on Table -- Condiments week, only to realize that I already had a dish from Greece, so moved this over to this week's Cooking from Cookbook Challenge.

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Sikil Pak (Pumpkin Seed Mole Dip)

Buffet on Table: Week 3 -- Condiments from Countries

Day 17: Mexico -- Sikil Pak (Pumpkin Seed Mole Dip)
For the last day of the Condiment week, here's a no-cook Pumpkin seed dip called Sikil Pak from Mexico. It is a specialty of Yucatan region and is rich, thick and very delicious.

Recipe is from 'Vegan Eats World' cookbook by Terry Hope Romero. When I first read the name, it sounded like an Asian dish but it is a Yucatan dip that is apparently very popular in many Mexican restaurants in the U.S. I've never seen it in any of the ones that I went to, so it was totally new to me.

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Tzatziki Sauce

Buffet on Table: Week 3 -- Condiments from Countries

Day 16: Greece - Tzatziki Sauce

After yesterday's creamy red pepper walnut dip, today I have a creamy yogurt dip from Greece. Tzatziki sauce needs only 3 main ingredients -- thick yogurt, cucumber, dill and that's it you can make a delicious dip that makes pita or falafel sandwich so much better. I even ate it by the spoonfuls.

My husband has an aversion to yogurt -- he can't tell it's smell, color or texture. I enjoy yogurt based dishes quite a bit but don't make them often. Even though I was tempted to try tzatziki at home, I was never really motivated enough. So this condiments week was the perfect time to make this dip and enjoy it all by myself :-)

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Muhammara (Red Pepper Walnut Spread)

Buffet on Table: Week 3 -- Condiments from Countries

Day 16: Syria -- Muhammara (Red Pepper Walnut Spread)
Today's condiment comes from Aleppo, Syria. Muhammara or mhammara is a hot pepper dip and is found in Levantine and Turkish cuisines. In western Turkey, muhammara is referred to as acuka. 

It is made with smoky roasted peppers, crunchy walnuts and fruity pomegranate molasses. It is a great alternate to hummus that is a usually found on Middle Eastern appetizer platter. Aleppo pepper is usually added to the dip, but you can substitute with a pinch of cayenne.

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Honey Mustard Sauce

Buffet on Table: Week 3 -- Condiments from Countries

Day 14: US -- Honey Mustard Sauce

Today's condiment is extremely simple to make with just 3 ingredients. It can be used as a dip or dressing or as a sandwich spread.

This recipe was not on my initial list, but then this sauce sounded just too good not to try. I recently bought a small jar of whole grain mustard and it went right into this delicious sauce. If you don't have access to store bought mustard, then make it right at home -- here's America Test Kitchen recipe on how to make it at right at home.

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Harissa (Chili Paste)

Buffet on Table: Week 3 -- Condiments from Countries

Day 13: North Africa -- Harissa

Today I have a simple and most useful all-purpose chili paste from North Africa. It is great to serve as a condiment for grilled foods and elevates the taste of braised dishes. This condiment is made with only dried red chilies, garlic, olive oil and a tiny bit of cumin.

Even though it is made with red chilies, it does not have to be really fiery hot and spicy, you can use mild tasting chilies too. Experiment with different chilies to find your tolerance level.

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Quinoa and Roasted Vegetables with Chimichurri Sauce

After making the chimichurri sauce, I was wondering how to use it. In Argentina, it is served with grilled meat. After searching a little bit, here are more uses for it in vegetarian dishes - ideas from here:

• As a sandwich spread by mixing with mayo.
• As pasta sauce -- just toss with hot pasta.
• Stir in scrambled eggs.
• Stir into mashed potatoes.
• Use as dressing for chopped veggie salad.

Here's how I used the chimichurri sauce. I served it with some roasted vegetables and quinoa. Recipe idea is from Vegetarian Times magazine. Original recipe had roasted sweet potatoes, but I used grilled veggies instead.

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Chimichurri Sauce

Buffet on Table: Week 3 -- Condiments from Countries

Day 12: Argentina -- Chimichurri Sauce
After 1 week of Combo meals and a week of Indian states, we continue our Buffet on Table marathon with Condiments from around the world as the theme for the week. When the themes were being finalized I wasn't really clear what a 'condiment' is. Chutneys and jams were the only condiments I knew and wasn't really sure if I would be able to find a week worth of condiment recipes from around the world to post.

A quick google search and a chat with Mir, clarified my doubts. Condiment is defined as 'something that is used to enhance the flavor of food' (Merriam Webster dictionary). According to Wiki, 'a condiment is a spice, sauce or other food preparation that is added to food to impart a particular flavor, to enhance its flavor or to complement the dish'.

I searched the internet and cookbooks with more clarity and found some delicious condiments from around the world. First up is this vibrant green sauce from Argentina called 'Chimichurri'. It is generally used for grilled meat and is originally from the Rio de la Plata, Argentina. It is made of finely chopped parsely, garlic, olive oil and white vinegar.

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Classic Hummus

I love hummus. I use it as a spread on sandwiches, wraps and even made a bread with it. But never made hummus myself at home -- I wonder why!! All it needs is 2 main ingredients -- chickpeas and tahini and that's all you need to make this creamy and delicious dip.
Hummus is known as the poor man's food in the Middle East and it is a versatile dish. It can be served as a snack or with any meal of the day -- it is served for breakfast for Israel. It is an easy and delicious way to add protein to the diet.

This recipe is from Vegetarian Times magazine. The recipe is a little unusual in that it uses warm chickpeas -- the author says the heat helps cut the garlic's acidity. It is best to make the hummus from scratch using dried chickpeas (instructions on how to cook chickpeas from scratch are included at the end of the post).

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Cranberry Pachadi (Cranberry Chutney)

Cranberries are in season during the holidays and are used to make cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. All the stores carry cranberries and I over-zealously bought a big bag for myself. I wanted to make some cranberry sauce for my Thanksgiving series and even found a recipe that I liked. But cranberry sauce is usually served with turkey and I was not sure which vegetarian dish goes well with cranberry sauce. So decided against making it.
Now I had the whole bag staring at me from the fridge. So I froze half of the cranberries for later use (at least they won't stare at me until I open the freezer, which is not as much as the fridge -- clever, isn't it??) Anyway I used some to make this warm cranberry cider and the rest to make this tangy cranberry chutney.

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Schezwan Sauce (Indo-Chinese Red Chili-Garlic sauce)

Nothing beats homemade condiments and sauces. Even though it is quite tempting to buy store bought sauces because of their convenience, I think if you have time it is much better to make them from scratch at home. Homemade sauces have no preservatives and are much healthier than the ones in the bottle.

The schezwan sauce is made with red chilies along with the regular Indo-Chinese ingredients like ginger, garlic, soy sauce etc. Recipe is adapted from Veg Recipes of India. It is spicy, tangy and sweet at the same time. The sauce can also be used to make schezwan noodles or even used to dip momos or dumplings.

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Sorakaya thokku pachadi (Bottlegourd peel Chutney)

I told you about the 3 ft sorakaya/ bottle gourd from my cousin's garden last week. The skin or the peel of that gourd was so tender I didn't feel like throwing it out. Also since I knew that it was grown without any harmful pesticides -- I wanted to make a chutney/ pachadi using it.

Peel of bottlegourd and ridgegourd (beerakaya) are often used to make chutneys. I usually throw the peel out because I'm not really sure what the vegetable went through before it came into my kitchen. But the peels are really healthy with good does of vitamins and also fiber. Finally with my cousin's organic bottle gourd I got to make this thokku pachadi (peel chutney). Had to ask my mom for the recipe, hence linking it to Valli's 'Cooking from Cookbook Challenge' event.

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Qatar -- Motabel (Smokey Eggplant & Tahini dip)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: Q for Qatar

Dish: Motabel (Smokey Eggplant & Tahini dip)

We are going to Qatar today because from the little I know there are no more countries that start with Q :-) Qatar is a sorerign Arab country located in Western Asia. It is world's richest country per capita due to the presence of large natural gas reserves and oil reserves.
Qatari cuisine is very similar to other Middle eastern countries. I picked a eggplant dip recipe from Qatar. It seems like some version of eggplant dip is present in all of the Mediterranean cuisines. Motabel/ Moutabel is almost like Baba ghanoush with smokey roasted eggplant as the main ingredient.

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Nepali Tomato Chutney (Tomato Achar)

This is a very tasty and spicy chutney. Tastes great with rice or roti or as a sandwich spread.

Recipe adapted from here:

Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 2 medium

Red Chilies - 3 (fresh ones, not dried)

Ginger - 1" piece, finely grated

Garlic - 4 cloves, thinly sliced

Ground Coriander - ½tsp

Ground Cumin - ½tsp
Mustard seeds - ½tsp
Fenugreek Seeds - ½tsp

Turmeric - ½tsp

Salt - to taste

Method:

• Dry roast the tomatoes in a skillet until nicely roasted on all sides. Remove the tomatoes and add the red chilies to the skillet. Dry roast the chilies until charred.
• Let the tomatoes and chilies cool. Peel the tomatoes; chop both the tomatoes and chilies. Reserve all the tomato juice.
• Heat 1tbsp oil in a sauce pan, add the mustard and fenugreek seeds. Once the seeds start to splutter, add the grated ginger and sliced garlic. Cook till the garlic is lightly browned all over. Add the chopped tomatoes, chilies, reserved tomato juice, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric and salt.
• Cook on medium flame until all the water is evaporated and the chutney gets a nice thick consistency.

Check out the complete Nepali Thali here.

Mango Jam (with Pectin)

It is officially the end of end of mango season. I was lucky enough to taste the final mangoes of the season in India. My mom and I ran to the market in the middle of a hot day as soon as we heard there're mangoes in the market. My daughter and I totally enjoyed the sweet Banganapalli mangoes, while the self proclaimed mango phobic person (my son) looked at us like we were crazy. It's been good 14 years that I ate a good Andhra mango.

I was excited to see some mangoes on our recent visit to the local Indian grocery and bought a whole crate out of sheer excitement, only to find that most of them had dark spots on them. They tasted super sweet and juicy, but the dark spots started to grow bigger by the day. With my husband travelling, I couldn't possibly eat all of them, so decided to make a jam with the rest of them -- this way at least we can preserve and relish the mangoes longer.

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Tomato Pachadi (Chutney)

This is a delicious and classic tomato chutney that needs no introduction. Every household in India might have their own recipe for this yummy dish — some tangy, some spicy, some a little sweet—any which way you make it, it is absolutely delicious and comforting.

I bought 2 packs of Campari tomatoes that needed to be used up and I thought this would be the perfect. Campari is a variety of tomato that is juicy, less acidic, and sweeter than a regular tomato. A quick call to my mom and I was on my way to make this easy pachadi.

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Peach-Mango Jam with Vanilla

What do you do when there are only 2 adults (and one kid who doesn’t eat fruit AT ALL) and crate full of peaches and mangoes to eat before they go down south into the garbage. First thing I would do is to bring some sense into the people who are buying these excessive fruit. But come on who can resist those sweet smelling mangoes in Indian grocery – one fruit is definitely not enough and the next best (cheapest) is the crate with a dozen of them, I picked up the latter. Also peaches had a $2 coupon at BJs, so they came home too.

After eating the fruit for a week, I started thinking of options of consuming them in bulk. Some of the peaches went into this yummy summer soda that I made for the BBQ – very summery and refreshing. With the rest of the peaches I made this peach-mango jam and added some ground vanilla as flavoring. I still have a couple more mangoes that I’m planning to make mango lassi with – don’t want to end the summer without enjoying an ice cold lassi.

Traditionally whole vanilla beans are used to flavor the jam, but I used pulverized vanilla (ground vanilla??) instead. I added pectin to the jam to get a more jam like consistency. I also used a hand blender to make a smooth jam instead of chunky.

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