6 healthy and tasty dips to elevate your monsoon snacking game

Dips and chutneys can take your snacking experience to another level by providing the right dose of flavour, fragrance and spice. With monsoon in its full glory, the popular tea time accompaniments like pakora, samosa, and cutlets are in high demand. None of these crunchy and savoury snacks are complete without a flavourful dip or chutney but health-conscious people may hesitate in dipping their oil-free pakora into a high-salt or high-on-additives store-bought dips or sauces. However, one can also make mouthwatering dips with healthy ingredients like Greek yoghurt, lemon, honey, oregano, pomegranate seeds, pumpkin seeds, black olives, mint and other seasonal fruits, vegetables and herbs. (Also read: Monsoon delights: 6 lip-smacking snacks to savour during rainy season)

Jagriti Barar, Clinical Nutritionist, Cloudnine Hospital, Malad, Mumbai suggests dips and chutney recipes that would be perfect for your chai-time snacking during monsoon.

1. Pomegranate Greek Yogurt Dip

Ingredients:

Greek yogurt/hung curd – 1 cup

Pomegranate seeds- 3/4 cup

Cream cheese – ½ cup

Lemon juice – 1 tsp

Honey – 2 tsp

Fresh oregano – 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Chilli flakes – to taste

Instructions:

• With the help of hand mixer, mix cream cheese and Greek yogurt/hung curd together.
• To make the savoury version add lemon juice, salt, fresh oregano and pomegranate seeds, mix well and keep it in the refrigerator; let it set for 1 hour.
• To make sweet version add honey, red chilli flakes, pomegranate seeds, serve cold.

Health benefits

Pomegranates are rich in antioxidants, improves gut health. Yogurt is a rich source of calcium, protein and live culture or probiotics, which can enhance the gut microbiota.

2. Pumpkin Seeds Salsa

Ingredients:

Pumpkin seeds– ½ cup

Tomato – 2 medium size

Bell peppers – 1 small

Onion– 1 medium

Black olives – 1 tbsp

Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp

Lemon juice – 1 tsp

Green chili- 1 small

Honey – 1 Tsp

Fresh oregano – 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Chili flakes – to taste

Instructions:

• Rinse and roughly chop 2 medium tomatoes, 1 medium onion, 1 green chilies and some coriander leaves.
• In a food processor, mix all the ingredients. Don’t make a smooth paste, stick to slightly-chunky consistency
• Finely chop bell peppers and black olives to give your salsa a crunch touch.
• Transfer all the ingredients in a bowl. Add chili flakes, oregano, lemon juice, honey and salt to taste.
• In the end add the star ingredients – Roasted pumpkin seeds. Mix well and serve cold.

Health benefits

Pumpkin seeds are rich in manganese, zinc and Vitamin K which helps in wound healing.

3. Avocado Hummus & Cauliflower Hummus

Ingredients:

Boiled chickpeas – 1 cup

Avocado – 1 medium size

Cauliflower – 1 medium size

Sesame seeds- 1 cup (to make tahini)

Olive oil – 2.5 tbsp

Lemon juice – 1 tsp

2 garlic cloves

Cumin powder – ¼ tsp

Salt – to taste

Black pepper – to taste

Red pepper flakes – for topping

Instructions:

• To prepare tahini, roast the sesame seeds, process the sesame seeds until crumbly. To the same mixture, add ½ tbsp. olive oil and blend it to make smooth paste.
• In a food processor add chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, cumin powder, garlic clove and add few ice cubes and make a smooth puffy paste.
• Gradually add oil, a tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency. Season it with salt and black pepper. The base is ready.
• To make the avocado version, add peeled chopped avocado to the base and blend it together to make the smooth paste.
• Serve in a bowl, drizzle olive oil and chili flakes.
• To make the cauliflower version, in a preheated oven, toss the cauliflower with oil, salt and pepper. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until it is tender. (You can also roast cauliflower on roasting rack instead of baking). Let it cool.
• Add roasted cauliflower to the base and blend it together to make the smooth paste.
• Serve in a bowl, drizzle olive oil and chili flakes.

Health benefits

It’s a protein rich dip. Also, chickpeas are high in dietary fibre and soluble fibre thus adding bulk to your diet. Avocado is a heart healthy Fruit.

4. Strawberry Yogurt Dip

Ingredients:

Greek yogurt/hung curd – 1 cup

Strawberry- 1 cup

Cream Cheese – ½ cup

Honey – 2 tsp

Salt – a pinch

Instructions:

• Make strawberry puree using a food processor.
• With the help of hand mixer, mix Greek yogurt, cream cheese and strawberry puree together.
• To the above mixture, add 2 tsp honey, mix well and keep in the refrigerator, let it set for 1 hour.
• Serve cold with fruits.

Health benefits

Strawberries are rich source of Vitamin C and manganese.

5. Mint Dip with Garlic and Dill

Ingredients:

Curd – 1 cup

Mint – 1 cup

Dill- fresh Dill for garnish

Dry Dill

3-4 cloves of garlic

Salt – to taste

Cumin powder – a pinch

Green chili – 2 small

Instructions

• Clean the mint leaves and keep it in cold water for a while.
• Then using food processor, mix mint leaves, cumin powder, dried Dill, garlic cloves, salt and green chilly together.
• In a bowl mix hung curd and mint Dill puree together.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Serve cold and garnish with fresh Dill.

Health benefits

Garlic is good for our immune system, mint has power to control bad breath and improve irritable bowel syndrome, thus very good for gut.

6. Bell pepper cottage cheese dip

Ingredients:

Cottage cheese – 150g

Red Bell Pepper – 1 medium

2 cloves of garlic

Salt – to taste

Chili flakes – to taste

Oil – 2 tsp

Instructions:

Roast the garlic and bell pepper on a roasting rack, drizzle little oil.

Then using food processor, blend cottage cheese, roasted garlic, roasted bell peppers, salt and red chili flakes to taste, to make a smooth paste.

Serve in a deep bowl, garnish with tsp of oil and red chili flakes.

Health benefits

Bell peppers are rich source of Vitamin E, C and beta carotene. Cottage Cheese or Paneer is high in protein and calcium.