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In Bill's Kitchen
(Mostly) healthy recipes with a lot of spice and a little snark...
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CREAMY ZHOUG SAUCE

CREAMY ZHOUG SAUCE







Creamy Zhoug Sauce

Ingredients:

1–3 whole jalapenos, sliced

2 fat garlic cloves

1 bunch cilantro, small stems ok

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon ( or whole, see notes)

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste

1/3 cup olive oil, more to desired consistency

2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon chili flakes (Aleppo chili is nice), more to taste

Greek yogurt, plain


Directions:

Place all ingredients (except yogurt and oil) in a food processor and pulse until it’s uniformly chopped. Add oil and lemon juice. Process into a coarse paste. For a looser version, add a bit more oil.

Taste for salt and heat, adding more if necessary. Add chili flakes if you like.

Mix with yogurt to make a creamy dip. More yogurt will mellow out the heat, less will keep it extra spicy.


Notes:

Feel free to use whole cardamon seeds, whole cumin seeds and peppercorns- toasting and grinding. Caraway seeds are a nice touch too. Jalapeños are not traditional, yet produce a very consistent and milder heat. You can swap them out for hotter chilies. Feel free to swap out the cilantro for flat-leaf parsley, or even fresh mint. You can also do a blend of all three! The cardamom is the star here, so make sure you use enough so you can taste it.

Use as a dip for samosas or crudités. Makes a great marinade for grilled chicken, fish, or other meats.
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