My favorite season -football season- has arrived, and that means buckling down every Sunday for a full day on the couch, with friends and family, cheering on our respective favorite teams. And what makes that perfect? A giant bowl of homemade spicy desi queso.
This Spicy Desi Queso is one of my most prized recipes, simply because it resulted from a kitchen experiment, and boosts all of my favorite flavors with one of my favorite foods: cheese. Cheese honestly is one of my main food groups, I never ever say no to a damn good cheese board.
When I first made this spicy desi queso, both of my brothers just looked at me with wide eyes, and said: It’s way better than Moe’s queso.
And that friends, is how I knew I had landed in a gold mine (they’re my biggest critics, after all). To test my experiment further, I made a huge batch for my little brother’s 21st birthday, aka my parents excuse to throw an end of summer bash. Aunties came up to me asking what was in it because they COULD NOT stop eating it. Needless to say, the data spoke for itself!
If you’ve made my “Hot Dog” Curry, you definitely have all the ingredients you need to make this. And if you don’t it’s time to stock up because these are ingredients that I guarantee, you’ll need again (when you start making this delicious, spicy desi queso EVERY WEEK!).
It packs a punch with the fresh red and green Thai hot chilies, the variety of roasted Sri Lankan spices, and the creamy Amul Cheese that we grow up eating in our cheese toasts. You can find this cheese at your local Indian specialty store, guaranteed! If not, Dairylea Cheese, the rebrand of the age-old Australian Kraft cheese, that we used to buy in bulk, is a great substitute if that is more available in your area!
Take pictures when you make it and tag me on Instagram!
Spicy Desi Queso
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 small red onion chopped
- 4 thai hot chillies mix red and green!
- 6 garlic cloves
- ½ inch ginger
- 6 curry leaves
- 1½ tsp ground Ceylon cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1½ tsp ground cumin
- 24 oz evaporated milk
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1½ lbs Amul Cheese or Kraft/Dairylea
- 1 tsp chopped cilantro
Directions
- Chop your onions to be really tiny, as pictured. Slice your chillies finely, set aside.
- Mince your garlic and ginger together with a mortar and pestle.
- Chop the curry leaves coarsely.
- Heat your pot to medium-low, and add a tbsp of butter. Once heated, add your onions. Saute until translucent.
- Now, add your garlic-ginger mince, chilies, and curry leaves. Keep stirring as the rawness goes away, and the mixture starts to brown.
- At this point, add your cinnamon, cumin and cardamom. Stir occasionally as the spices roast for a minute. Turn the heat off, and set your onion mixture aside.
- Without washing your pot, add the evaporated milk, cornstarch, turmeric and black pepper. Mix and heat this up until just before it comes to a boil (you'll see the sides bubble up).
- Now turn the heat to simmer, and start adding the cheese in small bits. Whisk consistently as the cheese melts, so it doesn't clump or stick to the bottom of the pan. Keep adding and stirring until all the cheese has melted, and the queso has thickened.
- Add your onion mixture back into the cheese mix, and stir well. If you choose to, you can keep a couple spoons to garnish if you are serving at an event!
- Pour into your serving dish, and garnish with the chopped cilantro. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips, and enjoy!