Lockdown Dip

What a bizarre name ! Well this is a dip (as in chips and dips) that got invented during the lockdown period with little whatever there is available in the pantry and hence the name. 

I love sour cream and like to use it a lot in salad dressings, along with the Mexican food and also in the making of dips. Basically I prefer to use it instead of mayonnaise. My fetish for sour cream makes me go about finding its utility in various things. The lockdown posed a major challenge in terms of availability of sour cream and hence it all started with finding a replacement for the store bought sour cream. That was an easier problem to solve as milk has been available and all I needed was a litre of whole milk. I set this into curd. Then i put it on the cheese cloth on a strainer for the water to drain. I refrigerated this whole apparatus as I did not want the curd to turn very sour, the summers in Pune are  very hot after all. The hung curd was draining in the fridge for nearly 2 days. When I tasted it on the second day what did I find ? Voilà,  it indeed tasted like sour cream! So there was my sour cream problem solved satisfactorily. 

Next I set about making an interesting dip with it. I had some fresh herbs in my pantry and here is what I literally whipped out with the home made sour cream

Ingredients

  1. Home made sour cream (recipe above) – 1/2 cup
  2. Basil salt (click for the recipe) – to taste
  3. Pizza mix or mixed italian herbs – 1 tsp
  4. Fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme oregano if you have them else can be omitted
  5. Chilli flakes – 1/2 tsp
  6. Sugar – to taste
  7. Milk to adjust the consistency

Method

  1. Beat the home made sour cream till smooth and light. Adjust the consistency with a teaspoon or a two of milk.
  2. Add all the remaining ingredients till combined. Adjust the seasoning as desired. Serve with cut  cucumber, carrots or lettuces or some chips like lavash.

This makes a great dip and can easily stay in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. It goes really well with nachos, crackers, lavash and such chips. I went all Italian on the flavour. But you could also add mint, coriander, finely chopped green chillies and crushed garlic. Another great addition would be dill. So go ahead and give it a try.

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