Indian Carrot Salad

The citrus trees in the garden are covered in the sweetest blossom at the moment. Such a pleasure to spend time working around them. I have been grazing through some of my recipe books looking for 100 ways with silver beet! I was inspired to make this again, knowing how much Coen likes it and how much he actually loathes silver beet. This is a wonderful fresh and tangy salad that you can make as I have here with the addition of the lamb. You may also like to serve the carrot just as a salad along with your other favorite meals. I never purchase garam masala already made up. Ground spices lose their flavor quickly and you never know how old they are before you buy them. The recipe here is a Kashmiri inspired one that I make up the most often.

Garam Masala
2 teaspoons cardamom seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon whole black pepper corns
2 x 5 cm cinnamon sticks
½ teaspoon whole cloves
quarter of a nutmeg grated

Roast spices separately and grind to a fine powder.
Add nutmeg and keep store in an airtight container.


INDIAN CARROT SALAD

For the lamb,
500g good quality minced lamb
2 teaspoons garam masala
sea salt

Carrot Salad
4 large carrots peeled, mixed colours look fantastic if you are able to get them
small bunch coriander, leaves picked off
small bunch fresh mint, leaves picked off

Dressing
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 small red onion, peeled
zest of 1 lime
juice of 2 limes
1 heaped teaspoon freshly grated ginger
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
pinch of sea salt

Garnish
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

METHOD

Heat a large fry pan and fry the lamb until all the fat comes out of the meat.
Drain off the fat. Add the garam masala and a good pinch of sea salt, turning the mixture over constantly. Keep frying until the meat is nice and crispy.

For the salad

Heat a small fry pan over a medium heat and toast the cumin seeds.
Grind the cumin seeds in a mortar and pestle.
Shave the carrots into long wafer thin slices by using a speed peeler or a mandolin and place in a large bowl.

To make the dressing, put the lime zest, lime juice, grated ginger, ground cumin seeds, pinch of salt and extra virgin olive oil in a bowl and whisk together. Slice the onion very finely using a mandolin. Add the onion to the dressing and pour over the carrots. Add the coriander and mint leaves and mix all together gently with your fingers. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your own taste if you think that it needs more lime juice or oil.

Divide the lamb between two plates, place the carrot salad on the top of the lamb and sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Serve with warm bread and a good dollop of Greek yogurt and lime wedges if you like.

Enjoy!
Comment from Coen as we were eating our meal.
"Be sure to save one piece of the bread to clean up your plate with"
You can’t get a better compliment than that!
In Jamie’s book he suggests that this is a snack for 4 people but we ate it as a meal for 2.

Adapted from;
Jamie at Home
Cook your way to the good life,
Page 106