Wednesday, March 9, 2011

ROASTED GARLIC & RED CHILI PEPPER DIP WITH SWEET POTATO FRIES - Healthy in every way!!


Remember, I told you to watch out for the next post if you want accompaniments for the fried green tomatoesJ. Well, here it is - Roasted garlic and Anaheim pepper dip. This is the ones you call “one of a kind” guys!!

It’s the best, healthiest and tastiest substitute I have found for mayonnaise. Call it sauce, dip, chutney or whatever you want...use it with burgers, fries, tortillas, grills, sandwiches or even simply spread some on a piece of pita and chomp off!!
Did you know chilli peppers when consumed moderately had terrific health benefits? Capsaicin- a phytochemical in chilli peppers helps fight cancer, control cholesterol levels and even reduce weight!!

Measured for heat in Scoville Heat Scale Unit (SHU), good ol’bell peppers are said to be least hot at Zero SHU while an Indian chilli pepper called Naga Viper Pepper measures 1,382,118SHU. Just so that you know how hot that is the Jalapeño peppers reach a maximum of 8,000SHU only!!! Now, how hot is that!!!

Facts for the day are finishedJ.

Back to our recipe....about the sweet potato fries- these are the yellow/whitish variety of sweet potato and not the orange ones. Never, try to bake them on a foil, I promise you that they will stick to it!! So always use a slightly greased and floured non-stick baking tray.
The dip can be refrigerated for up to 2 days in an airtight container. I haven’t tried more than that, so that’s how much shelf life I can guarantee you!

Don’t get scared by the amount of garlic being used, its perfect when blended with the yogurt. If you reduce the amount, it won’t taste as good. So, just follow the recipe tightly J

Ingredients: (serves 1 ½ cups of dip)

Dip:
Garlic - 2 whole pods
Red Onion - ½ diced into 4 pieces
Ripe Anaheim pepper - 2 whole with seeds (remove seeds for less heat)
Low fat yogurt - 1 cup
Lime juice - ½ tablespoon
Vinegar - 1 tablespoon
Olive oil - 1 teaspoon
Salt to season

Sweet potato fries:

Sweet Potatoes - 2 cleaned & peeled
Freshly ground pepper - 1 teaspoon
Olive oil - 1 tablespoon
Salt to season

Method:
Dip:
1.       Cut off top of the garlic cloves and wrap in a piece of foil.
2.       Halve the chilli peppers.
3.       Place the wrapped garlic, peppers and onion in a baking tray.
4.       Drizzle olive oil and salt over the onion and pepper.
5.       Bake at 230⁰C in pre-heated convection oven for 20mins.
6.       Let it cool.
7.       Open foil and peel garlic cloves.
8.       Grind garlic, chilli and onion into fine paste.
9.       Add vinegar and lime juice.
10.   Whip in the yogurt slowly without allowing any lumps to form.
11.   Adjust salt and refrigerate for couple of hours before use.
Fries:
1.       Evenly, slice sweet potatoes into fingers. Don’t make it too thin.
2.       Let it rest in a bowl of warm water for at least 1 hour. Note that the fries should be fully soaked in water. This will prevent it from sticking to the baking pan by removing excess starch from the outer layer.
3.       Now drain and pat with a dry towel. Rest for 15mins till they are dry.
4.       Coat with seasoning i.e olive oil, pepper, salt.
5.        Pre-heat oven to 220⁰C and bake for 30mins. Turn side and bake for another 10mins. Keep a check on them while baking. Cooking time will vary according to oven and potatoes.

Serve dip and fries garnished with some chopped celery leaves for an extra kick J.

22 comments:

  1. this is perfect! seriously..perfect! I love all your flavoes here! espeially the yogurt! I love using yogurt instead of sour cream, mayonaise,etc.

    Im loving your blog! LOTS and LOTS of great stuff here!

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  2. haha i'll come back to this with a longer comment...but for now before the rush starts add the missing h in shelf life...and remove this comment of mine...lol

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  3. Thanx Sabrina! do keep cuming back :)
    @Thoma: Were you able to read the recipe? becoz today morning wen i logged in the recipe part was gone :( Dunno wat happen but the entire post got clipped after the page breaker!! n yea as usual thanx for the typo :)

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  4. Sounds good , but can you tell me what an anaheim pepper is ?? Thanx in advance .

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  5. chill Mj...your readers can read the whole thing. i jus chked now...my pleasure...typo...will be back again...lunch time here :)

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  6. @Shabs: Its also called californian chilli pepper I guess...The long chilli peppers which we use for stuffing and is medium hot. i used the ripe red ones. if you cant find these just use 1/4th of a red bell pepper combined with 2 green chillies roasted!
    @Thoma: now u can see it because I just updated and reposted ;) Otherwise everything except the recipe was there...hehehe...might have been the result of an exhausted sleepy post :)

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  7. I just adore sweet potato fries and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that your dip does not contain mayo. SCORE! :D

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  8. The dip looks gorgeous! gotta try this one out- and I am a fan of fries any day. Perfectly done:)

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  9. oohh yum! the spice just makes this great!

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  10. I've been trying to come up with a suitable substitute for the beloved french fries in this house. I'll have to give this one a shot! :)

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  11. OMG I am in love with this dip, it looks so fantastic!

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  12. Love Love Love this! Awesome! I'm using pita chips! Did I say I LOVE it! I do!

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  13. This dip looks soo good, and no mayo!
    I use yogurt in dips,and no one is the wiser. I love sweet potato fries, roasted sweet potatoes, grilled sweet potatoes, etc. Can you tell I love sweet potatoes?

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  14. Yum..sweet potato fries are my favorite and this dip sounds so delicious! I will definitely have to try this out..thanks for the great recipe!

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  15. Looks fantastic! I love the addition of yogurt.

    It reminds me of the dip I made yesterday with walnuts. I can't get enough spice right now!

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  16. this looks so good. I love that dip idea with the sweet potato fries

    I'm also a big fan of yogurt dips instead of sour cream it gives it a nice healthy tang

    Beautiful and well done :)

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  17. This dip sounds amazing! I love that you used yogurt. Great recipe!

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  18. What a fantastic sounding dip. Trying that one for sure!

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  19. any idea on the nutrition facts to help with the tracker?
    i.e. Calories, Fat, sodium Carbs

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  20. Hi MJ, I really love this creamy, spicy, and yummy dip. I would use crispy celery and carrot sticks to dip it into.
    The sweet potatoes look quite light, compared to our sweet potatoes. They look perfectly crisp, and comforting as a side dish!
    Thanks for sharing!

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  21. I have seen this and now my stomach is asking for food.
    It looks so sweet to be put in the stomach.

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  22. Very healthy indeed..loved all the flavors n ingredients going in there :)


    US Masala

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