Guacamole Recipe + Winners

I love avocados. Guacamole is something that regularly gets made as a sandwich spread for TH to take to work. In fact, I don't even think I have tried an avocado smoothie at home before, although I have tried some delicious ones all over Singapore. 

Last weekend, uncharacteristically, I made these for brunch on Saturday and the lighting was just perfect for some shots for the blog. I Indianize the recipe quite a bit by using Indian green chillies and shallots in my guacamole. The flavour is amazing and we love it with some toasted bread!

Guacamole Recipe
Serves 2 / Fills 4 Sandwiches

Ingredients:
1 ripe* avocado
2 shallots
1 Indian green chilli (or a chopped jalapeno)
Half a tomato, deseeded and chopped fine
Juice of half a lemon or 1/4 of a lime
Chopped fresh coriander leaves (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

How I Made It:

1. Draw a knife deep into the avocado all around it, length-wise. Gently twist it around until the two halves fall apart and the seed is exposed. Remove seed, scoop out the green flesh with a spoon and place in a bowl. Mash well with a fork.

2. Grind the shallots and green chillies in a pestle and mortar (for best taste) or in a small grinder until roughly mixed.

3. Mix with the shallot-chilli paste along with all other ingredients with the avocado. Taste-test to adjust the sourness, saltiness and spice level. I usually adjust the amount of lime and salt to make it just right. It largely depends on personal taste.

4. Serve with tortilla chips, toasted bread wedges, rolled into a chapati, as you wish!

Notes

- to check if an avocado is right, press lightly near where the shoot end is see if its soft. If its hard there, its definitely not ready for use yet. Another trick is to hold it in your palm and see if it yields to squeezing.

- to make the avocados ripen faster, leave in a brown paper bag and don't refrigerate.

- to prevent browning, the lime juice will help. Some swear by leaving the seed in with the chopped avocados but I haven't tried this yet.

Enjoy this buttery, yummy fruit. Its high in Mono-Unsaturated Fats and apparently helps you lose weight if taken in moderation :)

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There were 104 comments on the $25 cooking.com giveaway post. The 2 lucky winners of the coupons are Kalyani and Sadhana Ginde. Ladies, I have contacted you already with the coupon codes so happy shopping and hopefully you share with us what you bought with them.

Disappointed that you didn't win? Please don't be! More giveaways and fun coming your way very soon!!

Click Red - Hot & Sweet

After much deliberation, battery-charging, camera-tweaking, bending, hemming and hawing, I finally have the entry for Click.

I bought some dried cherry chillies from the wet market last weekend. Or what I thought were dried cherry chillies. They were actually dried red dates! Ah well, as long as they are red, it works. And maybe I can come up with some nice chutney or dip with them, who knows.

As I did last weekend, I took close to 15o pictures today and finally have my entry. I am so happy I can finally think of food without wondering what colour it is. Phew.

Hot & Sweet - My Click-Red Entry

Now tell me. If these were in a transparent, unlabelled packet in a shop selling vegetables, wouldn't you have thought they are dried cherry chillies too? There you go!

Mirchi Ka Salan

Its been a while since I sent in anything for RCI - Regional Cuisine of India. I especially enjoy this event since it calls for a lot of experimenting and exposure to recipes that I haven't tried or tasted before. Starting from the Saarina Pudi I made for RCI - Karnataka to Bihari Shahi Paneer to Gujarati Khattai Aloo, all are recipes that soon became occasionals in my kitchen, not to mention the absolute ball I had during RCI - Kerala :D

Mirchi Ka Salan (phone pic, so please excuse!)

Bhavnagri Chillies

This time's RCI is featuring Authentic Hyderabadi Cuisine. Ahh, Hyderabad! In my two and a half years in the city, I have tasted a bunch of authentic dishes like Dum Biriyani, Bagara Baingan, Do pyaaza, Rawgani Roti, Mirchi ka salan, Double ka meetha and a lot more. I personally didn't like Qubani ka meetha and haleem.

Of all these dishes, Mirchi Ka Salan is my absolute favourite. It adds a wonderful flavour as a side dish to Biriyani. RCI this month gave me a good excuse to try it out myself. The process is slightly time-consuming since the dish is based on the traditional slow cooking method. Its definitely worth it though!


Recipe source here.
Serves 4

What I Used:

2 cups long green chillies (bhavnagri chillies) or capsicum, cut into thick strips
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
1/4 teaspoon fenugreek (methi/uluva) seeds
1/4 teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji/karum jeerakam)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tbsp coriander (malli) seeds
1 tbsp jeera (jeerakam)
2 teaspoons red chilli powder
1 tablespoon tamarind pulp/paste
5 tablespoons oil
a few curry leaves
salt to taste

To be roasted dry and ground into powder:

2 tablespoons peanuts
2 tablespoons sesame seeds (til/ellu)
1 tablespoon cumin seeds

To be ground into paste:

6 cloves garlic
1/2 inch piece ginger
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh grated coconut

How I Made It:

1. Wash and slit the green chillies. Remove the seeds and fry in hot oil until they turn whitish in colour. Remove and keep aside.

2.In the same oil, add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds and curry leaves.

3. When the seeds crackle, add the paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add the turmeric powder, coriander and cumin seed powder, chilli powder and powdered peanut-sesame mixture. Cook over a medium flame, stirring continuously until the oil separates.

4. Add 2 cups water and tamarind pulp and bring it to a boil.

5. Add the fried green chillies and salt and simmer until the gravy thickens. This takes a good 20-25 minutes.

Serve warm with Biriyani and raita.

This goes to Zaiqa who is hosting RCI - Authentic Hyderabadi Cuisine this month.