Beetroot and Carrot salad
Ingredients:
3 cups of washed, peeled and shredded carrots
1 to 2 small green chillies cut into pieces to your taste (optional)
1 to 2 tsp fresh coriander leaves, washed and chopped (to your taste)
8 fresh whole curry leaves (green), washed and patted dry with paper towel
Salt (to your taste)
Lemon juice (to your taste)
2 tablespoons oil (such as sunflower, canola etc.)
¼ teaspoon small mustard seeds
⅛ Teaspoon asafetida (hinga) powder
Directions
1. Put the shredded carrots in a bowl, and toss with salt and lemon juice.
Tadaka, vaghar (tempering)
2. Heat the oil in a small pot on medium heat until hot (it is hot enough when, after adding a few mustard seeds, they immediately begin to pop).
3. Add the ¼ tsp mustard seeds and, as the mustard seeds start popping, add the asafetida, the whole curry leaves, and chillies to the oil. Immediately remove the pot from the heat and pour the hot oil mixture over the shredded carrots.
4. Add the chopped coriander and mix well. Adjust the salt and lemon juice to your taste.
Beetroot salad variation
5 large beetroots, cooked* and shredded (see below)
To prepare salad, follow the same directions as for the carrot salad recipe, substituting the shredded cooked beetroot for the carrots.
*There are 2 ways to cook beetroots for this recipe.
To boil the beetroots:
Wash and scrub the whole beetroots, removing the stems (they do not need to be peeled yet).
Boil the beetroots in a pot of water till tender. Drain the water, cool and then peel and shred the beetroots.
Or
To steam the beetroots:
Wash, scrub and peel the beetroots, removing the stems. Steam the whole beetroots in a steamer till tender. Once cooled, shred the beetroots.