Thursday, May 15, 2008

Layered Mexican Dip

I had prepared this dip for a Super Bowl Party. Imagine how long its been! My blogger self made sure someone takes pictures of this dip that was most certainly blog-worthy (its a different thing that these hurried pics at the party didn't come out that great!) When I read about A.W.E.D Mexico hosted at DK's Culinary Bazaar I figured this would be a good time to brush the dust off these pics! A.W.E.D is a celebration of World Cuisines and I feel it is a great way for us to try a variety of food and get to know kitchens throughout the world better! :)

I got the idea from Nupur's 3 layered Nacho dip. I made some changes here and there, added some layers and here it is. The problem is that it's been so long since I made this that I am totally lost on the measurements, thankfully this dip is pretty forgiving, measurements don't matter all that much and you can add/remove ingredients as it works for you :)

I made mine for about 12-15 people (there were other appetizers too) and everyone did enjoy it. I will list the ingredients and method layer by layer or the list will look way longer than it should :)

Layer 1 - Handful of chopped onion, 2-3 cloves of garlic, 2 Tbsp tomato ketchup, 1 tsp butter, 1 tsp cumin powder, salt to taste and 2 cups of cooked red kidney beans. Heat butter, saute onions and garlic, add salt and cumin powder. Saute for a minute, add ketchup and beans (I used canned - removed the liquid and washed the beans)and mix well. Cook till the beans are slightly mushy. I just used my pressure cooker and cooked to 1 whistle. Make sure most of the liquid is dried out. If in a time crunch, you can skip the cooking with onion garlic part. Simply mixing up beans, salt, cumin, red chile powder and ketchup works very well too.

Layer 2 - Mix very finely chopped bell-peppers (all the colors work out well, a mix looks really pretty), onions, tomatoes, cilantro and jalapenos. Add a dash of lemon juice and salt to taste and set aside.

Layer 3 - Heat 1 tsp butter in a non-stick pan, add chopped jalapenos and a cup of frozen corn (washed - its ok if it is not thawed), toss till the corn begins to turn golden. Add a dash of salt.

Layer 4 - Here is the most fun layer. Grind a handful of cilantro and jalapeno with a little salt, cumin powder and a dash of lemon juice to a paste. Fold this in sour creme (light sour creme works just fine) and mix well. Add a tsp or two of milk if the sour creme mix doesn't feel very 'spreadable'.

Layer 5 - Shredded Mexican cheese mix (or any cheese of your choice - cheddar and jack work well), chopped spring onions.

Assembling-
1. Make sure the beans mix is dry and cool, spread it in a glass bowl. Lightly sprinkle some shredded cheese.
2. Remove the juices released from the veggie mix and spread on top of the beans mix. I didn't have the heart to do that, but if you let the juices remain, the dip tends to get very watery.
3. Spread the corn-jalapeno mix. Add a few dashes of Tabasco/Chalula or any Mexican hot sauce all over the layer. It seeps into the bottom layers too.
4. Spread the flavored sour creme.
5. Finally, sprinkle shredded cheese and spring onions.
6. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours for the flavors to blend.



Serve with Tortilla chips! You can add more layers - this dip leaves a lot up to your imagination. A layer of guacamole should be great! Thanks Nupur for the lovely idea! :)



So this Mexican dip is off to Culinary Bazaar for DK's "A Worldly Epicurean’s Delight – In short A.W.E.D." event! Thank you for hosting DK, this is a great concept!



Some other Mexican recipes on my blog - Veggie Quesedillas with guacamole and fresh salsa and Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

31 comments:

ranji said...

awesome awesome dip shwetha!!!soooo mouth watering delicious!!

Uma said...

lovely dip! looks so beautiful.

Mansi said...

we do this too at every super bowl event:) I made a similar mexican salad for DK's event today..the layers look perfect Shweta!

Trupti said...

wooow...dip looks delicious & healthy with lot of ingredients.

Beyond Curries said...

Nice entry Shweta. It looks perfectly delicious.

Vanamala Hebbar said...

tooooo goood ..... awesome

Hetal said...

the dip looks yummy...

DK said...

Yum , Yum and Yummmyyyyyyy

This must have been a super duper hit at the party - no doubt abt this one! Luks amazing and so pro. Thanks for sending it to the event :)

Unknown said...

The dip looks perfect Shweta..would love to have them with tortilla chips right now..

Suganya said...

Hi Shweta...
That was a nice entry... Looks YUM!... So colorful... Great mexican dip...

Unknown said...

looks delicious...grea entry,,iam sure everyone enjoyed it...

Deeba PAB said...

WOW Shweta...guess it's been well worth the wait. The flavours are unbelievably good! What a great dip; must have been hard long work though! :0) Deeba

SMN said...

Awesome dip it is feel like eating as it is..

FH said...

We love this yummy.I make 7 layer dip for Super Bowl and eat like pigs!;D

Sangeeth said...

lovely dip!I luv mexican and this recipe is surely a treat for me :)

Beyond Curries said...

Check out my blog for a surprise. Have a great weekend.

Shweta said...

Ranji, Uma thanks girls :) Do try it out sometime! You can simplify the layers if you are short of time!

Mansi, Thanks :) I checked out the salad, will be making it very soon!

Trupti, Thanks dear. If you ignore the fried tortilla chips we ate with this dip, the dip by itself is really healthy. The goodness of beans with all those veggies is always welcome :)

Madhu, Thanks for your nice words and also for the award, it really came as a surprise :)!

Vanamala, Thanks for dropping by and leaving me a note :)

Hetal, Thanks dear - I was drooling at that guacamole of yours!

DK, Thanks for hosting DK. I loved the roundup! There are so many things I would like to try now!

Shweta said...

DV, Thanks buddy! Do you live in LA? Its not too far frm here, come by, I will keep the dip ready :)

SK, Thanks! I didn't have any colorful bell peppers that day! Or the dip looks gorgeous with oranges and yellows from the peppers :) The corn layer compensated a little for the missing yellow peppers :)

Sowmya, Thanks :) And thanks for dropping by!

Shweta said...

Deeba! Good to hear from you. Since all I was making was this dip and some bruschetta, it was pretty manageable :) Actually once you have chopped all the veggies, cleaned your cilantro, rest is not much of a pain :D

SMN, I like your idea! If I could add some more veggies like lettuce in the veggie layer, this could make a very appeizing salad! :)

Ashaji, Did you blog about your 7 layers and I miss it? Or the dip was gone before you could take pictures? :) I was just curious to learn what else you added :)

Sangeeth, Welcome to my blog and thank you for your kind words :)

Sagari said...

awesome dip swetha

Andhra Flavors said...

wow...lovely dip looks delicious.

karuna said...

hi shweta, count me in for Arusuvai Friendship Chain. whr in san diego to stay, i live in san diego too

Anonymous said...

Hi Shweta,Visiting ur blog first time. U have a beautiful and lovely blog.yummy Yummy dip .I feel like to eat right now only.

delhibelle said...

How awesome is that !!
A pretty little rainbow of flavours!Thanks for sharing:)

Swati said...

Thanks Shweta for visiting my blog and leaving your kind comments...You have an awesome blog and am glad I came here..Hope to see more of you.
Cheers
Swati

Sagari said...

beautifullll dip swetha

karuna said...

hi shweta long time. i have tagged u, do visit my blog http://myluvforfood.blogspot.com/2008/07/new-menu-and-magic-lamp.html
thanks

Sharmi said...

you have a beautiful blog:)

AMIT said...

Perfect post from you.

Lingerie Alley

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Mona said...

Mmm delectable!