Dips – Life Of The Party

Dips are not an accident of the blended variety; they represent co-ordination of flavors like no other dish does. Most dips are a compliment to the cook because save a few popular ones, most originate from fertile gourmet imaginations ... indeed; no one can come up with an idea for a dip unless they are blessed with a great imagination and superior taste buds.

Here are some party favorites and their recipes, along with what goes best with them.
The first thing to do when planning on a cream based dip is to get together about 500 grams of no fat yoghurt or cottage cheese. If you get curd, hang up in a thin cloth, so all the water drains out, then blend well with salt, crushed white pepper and a little crushed garlic. If cottage cheese is preferable, make it about 400 grams, and blend with a tablespoon of cream, salt, crushed pepper and two crushed cloves of garlic. This is an ideal base for dips and a host with an active imagination can create wonders with this base. We shall call it almost-mayo.

The Regular Wafer Dip
Great on taste and easy on the labor department, this curry powder based dip can be made well in advance and can also be whipped up in twenty seconds flat if needed to be replenished…because it goes almost as soon as it is served, whether t is a gathering of five or fifteen!!!

2 cups almost-mayo
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp grated onion

Blend all these well and try to keep refrigerated for at least overnight, to get all flavors to blend well. If higher heat levels are preferred, add 3 tbsp chili sauce.
This dip serves well with an assortment of raw or lightly blanched hard veggies, or even chicken fingers, nuggets or just plain potato wafers.

The basic almost –mayo can be blended with a large number of other things to make comparable number of dips with special flavors.

1. Skip the garlic, salt and pepper, and add a dash of vanilla with two tablespoons of honey. This honey dip is excellent with fruit slices.
2. Keep the salt, pepper and blended yoghurt, and stir in a tablespoon of finely chopped mint. Keep overnight, refrigerated, to bring out the flavors of mint.
3. In blended hung yoghurt or cottage cheese, add half a cup of orange juice, a teaspoon of grated lemon rind and a tablespoon and half of honey.
4. In blended cottage cheese or yoghurt, add a tablespoon of finely chopped green onions. Stir in well, and then add half a teaspoon of onion seeds (nigella), to reinforce the flavors.

Ginger Tang

250 grams blended cottage cheese
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp cream

Blend together the cheese, ginger and vanilla. Then fold in the cream till evenly blended.

The Aioli Platter is a favorite vegetable platter with a large variety of veggies cut in fancy patterns, and interesting dips made with it. Curried mayo dip can be an interesting accompaniment, the recipe being the simplest part of the process…just add curry powder to the almost –mayo that is given above. Or simpler still, just serve the almost-mayo as it is, with maybe an extra clove of garlic, crushed to death.

Tsatsiki

Is another interesting dip, with very little labor.
You need
4-5 cloves garlic crushed with juices saved
1/2 lb. plain hung yogurt
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper

1/4 cucumber, peeled, grated, and drained
Mix together the first four ingredients and refrigerate. Just before serving, mix in the crushed cucumber.

This dip goes well with fries as well as steak, as a refreshing sauce accompaniment.

DIPS WITH FRUITS
The best dip one can serve with fresh cut and sliced fruits is a little sweetened whipped crème. However, if elaboration is the order of the day, there are some more ideas or interesting dips to go with a fresh, healthy plateful of cut fresh fruits. It is another matter that the dips may not always be the thinning variety, sometimes loaded with calories, but then, why not indulge once in a while??
Orange and Cointreau Dip
2 tbsp Cointreau
2 tbsp whipping cream
Finely grated zest of one medium sized orange
250 ml Crème Anglais

Whip the cream till stiff.
Stir the orange flavored liqueur, the orange zest into the Crème Anglais, and then fold in the cream.

A variation on this theme could be any fruit flavored dip, with the fruit liqueur and finely chopped pieces of the fruit blended in. Peach makes one great, refreshing taste, especially with peach schnapps as the liqueur. Try other flavors on an experimental basis and decide …what is your flavor????

Pina Colada Dip
1 1/2 cups cream cheese
3/4 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups pineapple chunks

In a blender or food processor, combine cream cheese, pineapple juice, and sour cream and blend until smooth. Remove from blender to a mixing bowl and fold in pineapple chunks. Refrigerate for about an hour. Tastes great with other fresh fruit or dried fruit and nuts.
This is by no means an exhaustive range of dips, just a few ideas to start with. I repeat, the best dips come from an active imagination and a set of connoisseur taste buds.