Stop & Guac

I’ve been done with school for a few weeks now and I have to admit, I miss it already. I love the rhythm of a regimented life and having extra time on my hands makes me antsy. But, I’ve tried to occupy myself with other pursuits like setting out on driving expeditions with my friends, reading, checking my bank account to see if my tax returns are in (finally happened yesterday!), going for long walks, doing yoga, and cooking!

Haymarket Farmers Market, Boston.

Just last week, I set off to Boston with three of my friends and while we were walking around the city we chanced upon the Haymarket Farmers Market. Up until then we were planning on grabbing a bite at one of the many Italian joints in the city’s historic North End. But, finding ourselves surrounded by the sights and smells of fresh vegetables and fruits, we decided to pick up some ingredients, head home and cook. Good decision.

Back at my friend Angie’s place we headed to the kitchen and got cooking. Although we each had something to do, I spent the better part of the hour gawking at my Turkish friend Tugba as she expertly de-fleshed and scooped our freshly purchased ripe avocados, chopped onions and other things, and whipped up a fantastic guacamole within no time. My brain absorbed everything.

Today, fidgety and confined to my apartment thanks to an overcast sky threatening rain, I was about to fry my brain with some mindless TV, when I decided to stop and guac! The result was, how do you say, umm, frickin awesome.

Here’s How to Guac:

Prep Time: 20 minutes.

Cool Time: Half hour.

Suggested Playlist: My choice in music had more to do with the weather today, than my ingredients. I put on a playlist I have of Chilly Gonzales’ classical stuff. Salon Saloon, Armellodie and Oregano are personal favorites.

What You’ll Need:

1. Two ripe avocados – good for a medium sized bowl of guac. When you press the avocados they should give a bit. Not so much that you can squish them completely though! In case yours are still raw, wrap them up in newspaper for a day or two. It helps ripen them quicker.

2. One onion – finely chopped.

3. Three to four cloves of garlic – finely chopped.

4. One tomato – without the seeds and diced.

5. Juice from two large lemons or four small limes.

6. A fistful of coriander/cilantro – roughly chopped.

7. Two to three teaspoons of salt.

8. Cayenne pepper or red chill powder (whichever one you have) – as much as you think you can handle.

9. A mixing bowl.

10. A fork or potato masher.

The Making of:

De-fleshing avocados.

Scoop out the flesh from the avocados. Tugba showed me an awesome way to do this. Once you have your avocado halved and still in its skin, take a knife and run parallel lines down its flesh. Then, criss cross with another set of parallel lines, like so (look left).

Now, using a spoon scoop out the flesh and plop into your bowl. Not only does the criss crossing help in de-fleshing the avocado as close to the skin as possible, but also in mashing up the pulp.

Using a fork or potato masher, squash the pulp up in a bowl. This is a great de-stressing exercise so, don’t get carried away by some subconscious I’ll-show-you fantasy and end up with a puree. You just need to roughhouse the pulp a bit, okay Ali?

Now squeeze the juice from the lemons/limes over the pulp and mix in. The juice’s citric acid prevents the pulp from oxidizing and turning black.

Oh yeah.

Now, add the onions, garlic and tomatoes and mix in. Once that’s done add the salt, red chili powder/cayenne pepper and coriander and mix in.

Taste. If you feel it’s not tart enough you can add a little more lemon/lime juice to the mix.

Guac’s done! Before you bring out the chips, refrigerate for half an hour to forty-five minutes. If you have some coriander left over you can use it to garnish. Or, stick a few large nachos in before serving. These little things make it look like you spent way longer on the process than you actually did and translates into more appreciation.

You’re welcome.

© Ayesha Sindhu 2014