Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Muhammara with Baked Pita Chips

Muhammara is another Middle Eastern dip that I have come to enjoy.It is made of fresh/roasted red bell peppers,walnuts,breadcrumbs and olive oil.But mostly it contains pomegranate molasses along with other spices in it.Now,I found that you can substitute this ingredient with balsamic vinegar or cranberry concentrate.So with the necessary substitutions here's the recipe

Ingredients:

Red Bell Pepper: atleast 1
Bread crumbs: 5 tbsp+
Garlic :1-2 cloves
Walnuts(toasted): handful
Olive oil
Lime juice
Balsamic Vinegar/pomegranate molasses:1-2 tsp
Chilli flakes
Cumin seeds or powder
Salt

Preparation:

You can use store bought roasted peppers drained and rinsed or cut the pepper into half and broil on a baking sheet with their skin side up for 10-12 minutes.Then seal them in a ziploc bag for a few minutes.Then remove their charred skin and chop.You can also roast them on the stovetop.For toasting walnuts,use oven or simply dry roast them on the stovetop.After toasting chop them. Peel and lightly crush the garlic.Seasonings are to be adjusted as per taste.

Puree all the ingredients in a blender drizzling olive oil little by little.Garnish and serve as a dip with pita chips or as per preference.

Baked Pita Chips

Pita bread: atleast 1
Salt & Spices as per taste
Olive oil.


Cut the pita bread into small bite sized pieces.Here I have used pocket less pitas.Any pita will do.Also you can make them thinner by slicing the pita into half and then cutting into triangles or whatever shapes.


In a small bowl,mix together choice of spices and seasonings-onion powder,garlic powder,cumin,pepper,chilli flakes,chilli powder etc.Mix the spices and salt with olive oil.Check for salt and adjust accordingly.Using a pastry brush or any other choice of device,brush each pita piece with this spiced oil.Bake on a preheated oven at 400F for 7-8 minutes.

I love red bell pepper and this dip is perfect for me.Munching on pita dipped in muhammara lets check out what fellow runners are cooking on Recipe Marathon Day #18:

1) DK 2) Srivalli 3) Ranji 4)PJ 5)Medha 6)Priya 7)Bhawna 8)Raaji 9)Ruchii 10)Anu 11)Kamala 12)Roopa 13)Divya Kudua 14)Rekha 15)Divya M 16)Lakshmi 17)Raaga 18)LakshmiVenkatesh 19) Sripriya 20)Viji 21)Kamalika 22)Pavani 23)Karuna 24)Roochi



25 Comments:

lakshmi said...

OMG, this looks and sounds so delicious. I have a weakness for anything that has nuts in it. Will definitely try this.

Bhawana said...

very tempting pics, I wish I cud have eaten some while you were making. I loved this post.

Priya Suresh said...

Wow wat a delicious dips...wish to grab some baked pita chips n muhammara dip rite now..

anudivya said...

Been raining dips here! Nice color.

Sunshinemom said...

Wow! This looks so delicious! I have the ingredients - everything except the red bell pepper! Will try this one soon:)

ranji said...

LOVELY!!..the dip looks divine..love those with some nice tortilla chips...gr8 for parties..good one :)

Cham said...

This one is simply delish! Never heard before !

raaji said...

i make bellpepper chutney with the red ones almost the same way......except with few additional ingredients...that tastes real good.......

Anonymous said...

Lovely color

Sujatha said...

Absolutely lovely dip! I can feel the taste already :)

Unknown said...

I like these dips/chutneys, very versetile can be used on different dishes. Red bell pepper give nice colour...yummy.

DK said...

what a col coincedance. I made these just 2 days back for some official meeting gathred at my place! This is so convinient and yummy isnt it :)

Usha said...

This sounds like such a delightful dip...love the color too...

Yasmeen said...

Tasty!,I recently made a similar dip with the roasted peppers ,muhammara sounds so much like it.

Medhaa said...

great dip the color is so rich and nice

kamala said...

Never had this..U have some wonderful recipes..So tempting

Archy said...

Wow.. Yummy dip with pita breads.. Wish i wud grab some :)!!

Unknown said...

This is awesome curry leaf.

Red Chillies said...

You are quite a fan of dips and mid eastern cooking aren't you? Thanks for the tahini information. I am bookmarking all these.

Sukanya Yogesh said...

I love the color, so tempting,Iam surely going to try this recipe.

Divya Kudua said...

That looks delicious...something new to me..but it looks delectable!!Great presentation!!

Unknown said...

ooooh mouth watering

Pavani said...

ooh...looks spicy n yummy

lubnakarim06 said...

Something completely new to me. Looks gr8. A lot of new and yum recipes day by day. Keep rocking dear,

test it comm said...

That dip looks really good!

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