Salsa Love

I love salsa. No further explanation. Just a plain fact. I love Salsa. Not the dance form…though I don't mind that too. But Salsa as in the thing we eat with our chips. Especially during Superbowl. We have a very crude version of Salsa back home which usually passes off as Salad. It involves diced tomatoes, chopped onion, chillies, lemon juice, coriander and interestingly, radish. Its delicious. Especially with rice and black dal. I had the Latino/American salsa when I first came to the US.  After I got over that fact that the restaurants served free chips before meals, I remember that my attention was caught by the seemingly innocent looking salsa. But boy I was surprised as the flavors exploded in my mouth. Yep…thats how I think of that moment when I had that first salsa. Tangy, salty, and super hot/spicy with a hint of sweetness. Chunks of tomato and onion and cilantro fighting to make an impression inside my mouth in the middle of all those flavors. Clearly, you see salsa love makes me poetic. Since then I have always judged a Mexican restaurant by the quality of its salsa. So imagine my excitement when I got an opportunity to go to New Mexico this year. What a better way to experience salsa the way it was meant to be. And New Mexico did not disappoint. I tasted every form of salsa. Mild to super hot…full of tomatoes to full of chillies. It was salsa heaven. However, in New Mexico I also learnt that I prefer my Salsa smoother than chunkier, tangier than spicier. Since coming back home I have tried different types of Salsa. But my mind kept comparing it to the New Mexican one and I was disappointed every time. Whether it was store bought salsa, served in restaurants or made (multiple attempts) at home, it was never good enough. Until today.

I have always looked online for my recipes. And when I looked for salsa one of the first hits was always Pioneer Woman's salsa. And I always read the recipe and ignored it. "This seems so simple. Surely a good salsa requires more hard work!" And I always ignored it…while I hunted on. But today I needed Salsa in a hurry. I had 1/2 an hour to SuperBowl and I needed Salsa to go with chips. Also I was in a store and did not have time to surf through all the other recipes. So I went ahead and bought the stuff that I needed. And went ahead to make one of the best salsa I have ever had, if I may say so myself. 

So here is what I used.

• 1 large can  Diced Tomatoes With Juice. The original recipe called for whole tomatoes, but I did not find it. So I went ahead and used what I had.
• 1 can diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies
• 1/2 Onion.
• 3 cloves Garlic.
• 1 whole Jalapeño. 
• 1/4 teaspoon Sugar
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin powder.
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice.

Now the recipe called for coriander leaves and I intended to use that. But in my hurry I forgot to use it. And the salsa turned out good. When I remake this I will use coriander and then write about it.

Put the onion, garlic and jalapeños in the food processor. (No chopping etc for me. Why work unnecessarily). Pulse it about 3 times (the number is for consistency purposes), and then add the rest of the ingredients. Pulse it about 6 times more (or adjust according to the desired consistency). Chill for about an hour before serving. 

That's all. Best Salsa ever. Now I really need to go to Mexico!