Showing posts with label Mexican. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexican. Show all posts

Frijole Mole (Chickpea Spread)





Out of the various addictions i have, reading lifestyle articles is one among them. As you might know nowadays, the newspapers goes beyond reporting news: there is a lifestyle section that includes everything from music, movies, fitness and of course food. 

Frijolemole is adapted from a recipe I found in the newspaper which I would call  is a cousin of hummus. The basic recipe is boiled chickpeas ground to a coarse paste while all the seasoning that goes into the making  is completely different. The seasoning gives an extra freshness to the frijolemole that can be used as a dip or a spread in chapati's, tacos or tortilla wraps.

the recipe

Chickpeas / White Garbanzo beans - 1/4 cup
Salt to taste

Oil - 2 tbsp
Onion - 1 medium
Garlic - 3 cloves
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp or slightly more ( as per taste)

seasoning

spring onion with greens - 2
green chillies, de-seeded & finely chopped - 2
tomato, blanched, peeled & chopped - 1
Tobasco sauce or chilly sauce - 1 tbsp ( I used chilly sauce)
coriander leaves, chopped - 1 tbsp
sour cream or hung yogurt  (optional )- 1 tbsp ( i did not use them 'coz  i felt the combination of sauce and yogurt wouldn't suit our palate)

the method

Soak the chickpeas overnight and boil it with salt. Reserve the liquid from the boiled chickpeas. 

Heat oil in a pan and sauté the onion and garlic till light brown. Turn off heat.

In a blender, place the boiled chickpeas, lemon juice and the sautéed onion and garlic along with the oil. Grind it to a coarse paste. Add the reserved liquid if the mix is too thick. Place the ground mixture in a bowl and add all the seasonings. Mix well. Use it as mentioned above.

Baby Corn Salsa



To me, salsa is a versatile food ‘coz anything can go into it as long as the basics are followed for that fresh taste.

Baby Corn salsa happened as an establishment of my longtime  longing to make some tacos, and there couldn’t have been a better timing when I found these fresh, tender and very light baby corns in a store along with a rare citing in our place – red bell peppers. I lightly sautéed the red bell peppers to replace the jalapenos, usually added in a salsa. The sautéing was done to get rid of the raw taste of the peppers which otherwise my kids would reject. Recipe time.




Baby corn – 4
Tomato, chopped – 2 medium
Onion, chopped – 2 tbsp
Garlic, chopped – 1 clove
Lemon juice – 2 tbsp
Red bell pepper (sauted in a tsp of oil) – 2 tbsp or jalapeno, chopped – 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves / cilantro, chopped – 2 tbsp
Salt – to taste

the method

Blanch the baby corns – Boil water (just adequate to immerse the corn) with salt. Place the baby corn in the boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Remove from water. Cool and cut it into preferred shape.

In a bowl mix together, the chopped tomatoes, red bell pepper, onion, garlic, coriander, lemon juice, baby corn and salt. Serve it in tacos or as you please. This can also be served as a salad.


Spicy Brinjal and Potato Stir Fry

Brinjal is one of my favourite vegetables. Growing up in the hillstation Valparai we had our own patch of vegetable garden and we use...