Mouth-watering Mexican dips

Foolproof guacamole

There is no nothing more glorious, more addictive, more crav crave-worthy than a good gu guacamole, says Florence C Cornish Serves 2-4 2 large ripe avo avocados juice of 1 lime 1 small red onion, f finely diced 1 garlic clove clove, crushed 6 6c cherry tomatoes, quartered 1 red chilli, finely diced a small handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• Cut the avocados in half, remove the stones and scoop the flesh into a large bowl. Cover with the lime juice (this stops it from going brown) and add the onion.

• Mix in the garlic and tomatoes. I like to use cherry tomatoes because you don’t need to deseed them and they have a sumptuously sweet flavour.

• Pop the chilli and coriander into the mixture, then season with the salt and pepper. Using your hands, squish the guacamole until it is fairly smooth but still with some chunky texture. Transfer to a clean bowl and serve, well, with anything.

Green tomatillo salsa

True Mexican salsa is fresh, fiery and unashamedly addictive, says Cornish, and this one is especially so… Serves 6 (as a side) 500g fresh tomatillos 2 green chillies 1 garlic clove, peeled 3 spring onions a large handful of coriander 1½ tsp caster sugar salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste tortilla chips, to serve

• Remove the outer leaves and stalks from the tomatillos, then put in a wide, shallow, dry frying pan with the chillies. Scorch over a high heat for 10-12 minutes until they are blistered and blackened.

• Cut the stalks off the chillies and split them down the middle. Remove the seeds then put in a food processor with the garlic, spring onions, coriander, sugar, salt and black pepper. Blitz, add three tomatillos and blitz again, then repeat – adding the tomatillos in batches ensures a smoother sauce. • Taste and add a little more sugar if it is too sharp, or salt if it is a bit bland. Pour into a large bowl and serve alongside an enormous bowl of tortilla chips.

Salsa roja (red salsa)

I’ve seen all sorts of recipes for red salsa, says Cornish, which range from blitzing up the raw ingredients, to roasting everything whole, to adding molasses for stickiness and depth. This is my favourite version Serves 6 (as a side) 4 plum tomatoes, halved 1 red chilli, roughly chopped ½ red onion, roughly diced 1 tbsp fresh marjoram 1 tbsp cumin seeds 1 tbsp coriander seeds 4 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp caster sugar 2 garlic cloves, crushed juice of ½ lime 2 tbsp tomato puree salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste tortilla chips, to serve

• Preheat the oven to 200°C. Spread the tomatoes over a baking tray. Add the chilli, onion, marjoram, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and olive oil, and toss together. Roast for 15-20 minutes es until slightly caramelised.

• Put the mixture into a blender, r, then add the sugar, garlic, lime juice,, tomato puree, and salt and pepper.per. Blitz until as smooth as possible.e.

• Decant the salsa into a bowl and serve with tortilla chips.