FOOD FRIDAY - THREE DIPS

“Cooking is about passion, so it may look slightly temperamental in a way that it’s too assertive to the naked eye.” - Gordon Ramsay
 

A dip, or dipping sauce, is a common condiment for many types of food. Dips are used to add flavour or texture to a food, such as pita bread, dumplings, crackers, cut-up raw vegetables, seafood, cubed pieces of meat and cheese, potato chips, tortilla chips, and falafel. Unlike other sauces, instead of applying the sauce to the food, the food is typically put, dipped, or added into the dipping sauce (hence the name). Dips are commonly used for finger foods, appetisers, and other easily held foods. Here are recipes for a popular trio of Middle Eastern dips.
 

Hummus Dip
Ingredients
 

1 and 1/2 cups chick peas
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon tahini
5 tablespoons lemon juice
5 tablespoons olive oil
Sumac powder to garnish (optional)
 

Method
Soak chick peas overnight and simmer in water for 2 hours or until soft (if the chick peas have not been pre-soaked they take longer to cook). Drain chick peas and reserve cooking liquid. Blend chick peas, garlic, tahini and lemon juice in food processor or blender adding as much reserved cooking liquid as needed to form a smooth, thick dip. Continue to blend lowly and add the olive oil little by little so that it is incorporated into the dip. Put into a serving bowl and sprinkle sumac powder on top (optional).

Baba Ganoush Dip
Ingredients
 

1 large eggplant
salt to taste
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tablespoon tahini
2 tablespoons lemon juice
olive oil for frying
parsley to garnish (optional)
 

Method

Cut the eggplant into slices around 1 cm thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and let sit for 30 minutes (the salt draws out the bitterness of the eggplant). Wash off salt with water and dry well with a towel. Fry until soft.
Blend eggplant with garlic, tahini, and lemon juice. Put in a serving bowl and garnish with finely chopped parsley (optional).
 

Spicy Carrot Dip
Ingredients
 

5 large or 10 small carrots
2 or more cloves of crushed garlic
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground caraway
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons vinegar
Mild smoked paprika powder to garnish (optional)
 

Method
Dice carrots and boil for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain and mash with a fork. Add garlic, spices, oil and vinegar. Mix and chill, garnishing by sprinkling paprika powder on top (optional).

This post is part of the Food Friday meme,

and also part of the Food Trip Friday meme.