Top 7 sauces

A good luscious sauce can add plenty of oomph and dress up a dish instantly. Check out these 7 sauces which are brilliant to taste and never go out of fashion.  

India’s favourite

Schezwan /sichuan Sauce, this fiery red chilli sauce is probably India’s favourite and a perfect way to hike the spice factor in your food. Alter it to your specifications, add or subtract a few ingredients to make it just perfect. 

• Sauté chopped garlic, ginger, spring onion bulbs and green chillies in 2 tablespoons of oil till they are a beautiful golden brown in colour.
• Grind 1 cup soaked red chillies to a smooth paste. Add this into the pan and sauté.
• Next add some vegetable stock, chopped celery stalk, some ketchup, salt and a pinch of pepper powder. Turn off heat, add some vinegar and finely chopped spring onion greens
• Cool, refrigerate and use for upto two months or whenever you need to spice things up in the kitchen!

Get cheesy

Cheese makes everything better. This mild sauce gives you plenty of room to have fun with flavours and spices, but we say keep the seasonings simple and play around with different types of cheese like stringy mozzarella or chunky cheddar! This recipe is simple but packed with flavour. 

• Add an onion studded with cloves and bay leaves to a cup of milk and boil.
• Melt butter in a non-stick pan, add a spoonful of refined flour and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Make sure that it doesn’t turn brown.
• Add the milk and whisk well so that there are no lumps. 
• Add plenty of cheese and mix well.
• Pass through a sieve to ensure lump free smoothness

Use as a delicious dip or try this recipe of asparagus with saffron chilli cheese sauce.

Pesto fresh

A classic pesto sauce has it all – aroma, taste and colour, and packs just the right amount of punch in a recipe - neither too intense, nor too simple. Use this basic basil pesto recipe and add spinach, coriander, parsley or even mint to give a refreshing new twist to your pesto.

• To make pesto sauce combine a bunch of fresh basil leaves, a few pine nuts (or walnuts), garlic and olive oil and blend into a fine paste in a blender.

Transfer the paste into a bowl and add parmesan cheese powder and use this herby sauce in recipes like saffron garganelli in pesto sauce, crostini’s, pizzas and sandwiches.

Buttery, eggy heaven

There is no denying the irresistibility of a perfectly made hollandaise sauce. The trick is to whisk the eggs constantly while pouring in a thin stream of butter till both these ingredients together create a luscious hollandaise.

• To make hollandaise sauce, take egg yolks in a bowl. Add lemon juice, salt, crushed peppercorns, Worcestershire sauce and 1 teaspoon of hot water. Whisk well into a homogenous mixture while pouring in a steady stream of ½ cup of clarified butter.

Use this sauce as a spread on burgers and sandwiches or as a perfect accompaniment to poached eggs.

Let’s salsa

Making a salsa is really as simple as making a salad. A classic fresh tomato salsa is great, but don’t be afraid to experiment with other ingredients to make a zesty salsa. Try this recipe for a roasted tomato salsa.  

• Roast whole tomatoes, jalapenos, garlic and onion till charred or for about 20-25 minutes.
• Drizzle olive oil and roast further for 2-3 minutes.
• Roughly chop charred ingredients (get rid of the over blackened, charred parts) and put them in a mortar, add some more olive oil and grind with a pestle.
• Keep it chunky or smooth depending on how you like it.

The versatile sauce

This sauce really is a brilliant mix of other fabulous sauces that goes perfectly well with just about anything - as a dip for crudités and starters, as a spread on burgers or even as a rich salad dressing  

• Take 4 tbsp mayonnaise in a bowl. Add 2½ teaspoon tomato ketchup, 1½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 3 teaspoons lemon juice and 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce. Mix well.
• Serve chilled with chicken garlic bites, wontons, rolls and other crispy treats.

Sauce for cakes and coffee

A delightful combination of sweet and salty, this salted caramel sauce will definitely steal your heart. You can use it as cake frosting, or with ice creams, on brownies and cupcakes. Even add a few spoonfuls of it to your coffee. Divine!

• To make this sauce, melt ½ cup sugar along with 2 teaspoons of water in a nonstick pan. Once it turns golden, add 2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp cream and mix well.
• Take the pan off the heat and add a pinch of sea salt and use this shiny gold sauce to dress up your desserts.

For cool recipes, tips and tricks to make these delicious sauces and more browse through SanjeevKapoor.com

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