This past week I was chatting up a new chef friend about the melting pot of different cuisines we’re seeing these days in some of the larger Texas metroplexes.
Here in the DFW area, long a classic steak, barbecue, and Tex-Mex bastion, there’s been an explosion of eateries featuring a host of different cuisines – Indian, Pakistani, Thai, Korean, African, Cuban, Laotian, Argentine, Vietnamese, African to name a few – the list could go on and on.
My new friend happens to be a native American citizen, born to Indian physician parents who immigrated to Dallas (Plano) nearly 40 years ago; she insists she was groomed from an early age to go into medicine, but fell in love with food and cooking early on and never looked back.
It’s a long story as to how we started talking about different sauces; I think we were actually talking about spicy green table sauces, like the jalapeño-based hot sauces from Mexico and the Caribbean, chimichurri and aji sauces from South America, and eventually this Simple Cilantro Chutney her mother used to make routinely at home.
I get it that folks are either fans of cilantro or they despise it; we’re in the cilantro is awesome camp, and have used this quick and easy recipe a couple of times already this week. This rule of thumb recipe can work for just about any green herb you want to throw in the blender (parsley and basil are on my list this next week) if you’re not big on cilantro.
The formula is an easy one – a big handful of herb, one or two serranos for heat, a burst of fresh lime juice for acidity (vinegars would play as well), and a bit of salt for balance. My new friend insists her mother always added a pinch of sugar to preserve the bright green colors (not sure about the chemistry but it does seem to help, as of course does the acid).
What’s fun about this one is throwing in what ever else suits you at the moment, like the cashews or pepitas, a bit of ginger, and more spice. Play with this one a few times and dial it in the way your family likes it…
1 medium to large bunch of cilantro, largest woody stems trimmed
1-2 serranos or other green chiles
Juice of one large lime, more if needed
1-2 tsp good salt (to taste)
Optional
Pinch of brown sugar
2-3 tbsp of roasted cashews, peanuts, pepitas
2-3 tbsp toasted coconut flakes
Ginger to taste
Toasted spices: mustard seeds, coriander, cumin, fennel, etc
Add the herbs, peppers, lime juice, salt, and optional ingredients to your trusty blender and go to it; the sauce is more interesting if you leave a bit of texture, though you can certainly puree it until very smooth as well. Add a little more lime juice if you need to thin it, adjust for salt, go to it.
Enjoy.
