Thursday 8 December 2011

Carrots, Cardamoms and Crackers

I'm doing this post as an entry for the Christmas Carrot Competition at lovethegarden.com

The brief is to post a recipe showcasing the Carrot, so here goes...

My recipe is for a Spicy Carrot and Cardamom dip, served with Oregano and Sesame Crackers.


This recipe is a really easy-to-make one, using just 5 ingredients - Carrots, Shallots, Olive oil, Cardamom pods and Cumin.


It produces a lovely spicy, warming dip, perfect for this time of year. It makes a great starter for a Middle Eastern meal, but it's also perfect as a component of a Christmas party spread.


We had ours with home-made Oregano and Sesame crackers, made to a recipe for Lavosh by Annabel Langbein. They are beautifully savoury, making a great foil to the sweet spicy carrot dip, not to mention being a really convenient shape for scooping up dips!


Here's the recipe:-

Carrot, Cumin and Cardamom dip, with Oregano and Sesame crackers

Ingredients
350g carrots
2 torpedo shallots, very finely chopped
3 tsp light olive oil
6 cardmoms, seeds only
½ tsp ground cumin
Seasoning

Method
Peel and slice the carrots and boil until very tender. Drain, reserving liquid.

Heat 2 tsp of the olive oil and cook the shallots gently until soft but not browned. Add to carrots. Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil until very hot and quickly fry the spices for a few seconds until the cumin darkens and the spices are fragrant. Add to the carrots and shallots.

Blend to a purée using a stick blender, gradually adding a little of the reserved cooking water to give a dipping consistency. Adjust seasoning and allow to cool before serving.

(Serves 4 as a starter. Double it for a party dip to serve 8 -10)

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P.S. Thinking about this, I have concluded that Carrots go well with most ingredients that begin with the letter 'C' - cumin, cardamom, crackers, coriander, chives, chervil, chipotle chilli, cheese, chocolate, (chocolate?? - now we're getting silly!)

8 comments:

  1. ooh the dish looks really good and has reminded me that I need to make my entry too... I love your blog by the way, very inspiring...

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  2. That looks very pretty.

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  3. Good luck with the Carrot competition. I am hoping to enter it too, I saw Cherrapeno writing about it, so it got me thinking. So you ready for some healthy competition ? :) I better get my backside in gear then, but before that pass me over some of the crackers so I can go carrot dipping. have a good evening, its it howling here, my front fence has been knocked down by the wind, a couple of years ago it was my greenhouse - ah the joys of living in Scotland will soon be over.

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  4. wow..sounds scrumptiously tasty..
    just found your space..very interesting blog you have..
    excellent posts with nice presentation..
    Am your happy follower now..;)
    do stop by mine sometime..
    Tasty Appetite

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  5. Never made carrot like this. But it is good to learn something new.

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  6. Mark you're a star!!! We're going to a BBQ (braai if you're South African) on New Years Day and I always like to take a plate of something. This is perfect!!! May struggle to get the cardamoms but will let you know how it goes down!!! Good luck with the comp. lol x

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  7. I absolutely love the crackers! I too have not seen carrots as a dip and I have never used cumin and cardamom but you definitely have me curious on this one and I may have to try it (after I try making those yummy looking crackers that is).

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  8. Mmn, love the combination of carrots and cumin, two very comforting flavours. Will definitely be making this for Christmas nibbles.

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