Saturday, November 29, 2008

Fiery Pumpkin Dip

BBQ last night in a friend's place, and I made 2 dips for the bread & chips. Salsa, as usual, is always welcoming and is a dip that never goes wrong for a party. I didn't expect everybody love this pumpkin dip. So decided to share the recipe here :)

This orange color dip offers a rich combination of sweet, spicy and fiery flavours. My cookbook actually had a warning line on this page: Be Warned - once you start dipping, it's hard to stop!

Original Recipe

  • 600 gram / 1 lb 5 oz butternut squash or pumpkin. seeded, peeled, and cut into chunks
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • Salt & grounded black pepper
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon granted fresh root ginger
  • 1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
  • Juice of 1/2 lime
My Recipe (with variation in ingredients, served 10+ people in the party)
  • half Chinese pumpkin (around 2.5 lbs), seeded, peeled, and cut into chunks
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • Salt & grounded black pepper to taste
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed & peeled
  • 1 big cube fresh ginger, peeled
  • 1 red dried chilli (the mini one from Southeast Asia), seeded and finely chopped
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
Method
  1. Preheat oven for 5 mins.
  2. Put pumpkin in a baking dish, drizzle over 2 tbsp of olive oil, salt and pepper.
  3. Roast for 20 minutes, 10 mins each side, or until tender.
  4. Put the pumpkin, garlic, giner, chilli, and remaining oil into a blender. Process until smooth.
  5. Squeeze in lemon juice and check the season to taste.

Cooking Tips
  • The thinner chunks of pumpkin you cut, the less roasting time. I used microwave oven instead of real oven. With the microwave + grill function, it only took 15 mins to soften the pumpkins, while 20 mins with the grill only function.
  • Why I use Chinese pumpkin? 2 reasons: It's easy and cheap to get in fresh market here, and it taste better for dips & soups compared to Japanese pumpkins.
  • Can serve hot, warm or cold. It will thicken on cooling. Give a good stir before serving.

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