Salad dips

I'm a salad kinda gal, especially in winter here in Delhi, when the weather is great and you get all manner of great veggies pretty cheap. My favourite red and yellow peppers go down to Rs. 100 a kilo and so on. I love going down to the Malviya Nagar market and scouting out all kinds of veggies. I especially love green leafies and much to the dismay of my maid, who then has to try and stuff eveything into our rapidly-becoming-too-small fridge, usually lug home anywhere between 2-5 kilos of different kinds of greens, including stuff I have no idea how to cook or what it's called in English.

I have a gorgeous ceramic dish with 6 compartments for snacks and a central one for dip. On winter evenings, with our oil heater on creating a cozy cocoon, I love serving different kinds of veggies with my mom's fabulous dip recipe (given below), along with hot rum punch. The veggies I serve: Spring onions, split into two, blanched carrots, cut into sticks, blanched green beans, cut into 2 inch long sticks, blanched broccoli florets, blanched cauliflower florets and red or yellow peppers, oven roasted, peeled and cut into thin strips.

Yoghurt-cottage cheese dip
Ingredients:
I cup ordinary yoghurt, hung till somewhat dry but not too dry (or greek yoghurt if you can get it easily)
100 gms cottage cheese (I use fresh paneer - low cal and easily available)
2-3 green chillies, minced fine
1 bunch coriander, minced fine
1 medium red onion, minced super fine (but not grated, ever)
salt to taste

Just mix everything together, making sure that the dip has a creamy texture. If needed, you can add a bit of fresh yoghurt to make the dip creamier. Chill till cold and then serve. You can also add other herbs like dill or mint. It's a great way to make kids eat their vegetables, and it's low cal. Try and make sure the veggies are a nice mix of colours - it looks more tempting.

Tip: While blanching, I prefer to use salted water - it makes the veggies taste better.

Rosy Dip - this is something I came up with by myself and now can't live without in winter. It tastes great with salad, chips, rice, pulao, roti, bread...

Ingredients:
1 beetroot, grated
1 red onion, chopped fine
1-2 green chillies
1 bunch coriander, minced
salt
1 cup yoghurt (Hung or not, depending on how creamy or runny you want it)

Just add everything to the yoghurt and mix well. Check for spiciness and salt. Garnish with the coriander or mix it in. The color is a brilliant fuchsia to purple, with hints of deep green. Looks and tastes delish... (as you can guess, I'm missing winter!)