RED BELL PEPPER AND SUNDRIED TOMATOES DIP

Made with the goodness of red bell peppers, sun-dried tomatoes and cashews, this delicious and versatile dish is all sorts of savory, slightly sweet and just enough spicy. Serve it as a dip for veggies and crackers, toss your pasta in it, top your pizza base with it, spread it on your sandwich or mop it up with idli or dosa

INGREDIENTS

1. Red Bell Pepper – 2 medium yielding 2 cups when chopped
2. Cashew – 1/3 cup
3. Sun-dried tomatoes – 1/2 cup
4. Kashmiri Red Chili – 1
5. Garlic – 3 pods
6. Cumin powder – 1/2 tsp
7. Salt – 1 tsp
8. Olive Oil – 2 tbsp
9. Pine nuts or any nut – to garnish

METHOD

1. Soak the cashew in warm water for 30 mins.
2. In another bowl, soak the sundried tomatoes and the red chili in warm for 30 mins.
3. Roast the garlic cloves. I like to roast them directly on the flame of the stove using a pair of tongs. Alternatively you could roast them in the oven for 180 C for 20 mins. Or you could just them raw.
4. Roughly chop the bell peppers and throw them into a blender.
5. Strain the water from the cashews and the sundried tomatoes + red chili. Add them to the red bell peppers
6. Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender and blend into a smooth puree.
7. Transfer into a bowl. Drizzle some more olive oil and garnish with pine nuts or any nut of choice.
8. Serve as a dip along with veggies or crackers. Or use as pasta or pizza sauce. I love mopping this up like a chutney with my idli and dosa.

NOTES

1. I’ve used a whole Kashmiri Red Chili here, just for that suggestion of heat but you could replace that with 1/2 tsp of Paprika or Kashmiri red chili powder.
2. If you’re using the kind of sundried tomatoes that come packed in a jar in oil, use 4 or 5 of those and skip step 2. In which you could soak the red chili, if using, along with the cashews.