The Bengal Raw
Mango Spice Salad ~ Like the name suggests this salad has a lot of flavours
that I associate with living in Bengal. Being born and brought up in Bengal,
the Bengali form of cooking and its authentic flavours always play as an
inspiration in your mind. The raw form of cooking that is most evident in the
food here is very different and flavourful.
The spices
here aren’t just brought from the market and put up into cooking, they are
actually dried, coarse grounded on stone grinders and churned into making
powder of masalas that play intricately with the flavours of food. So even if
you are just using a mix of onions, chillies or some herbs – you will find that
the mashing done on a stone grinder is much rich in flavor as compared to the modern
day processes. This is the difference that brings me back to the flavours of
Bengal.
As mangoes
are in season why not play with the best way possible. The raw mango has a
little crunch, citrusy taste and gives a good aroma too. Adding the chopped
pieces of it brought just the right twist to the salad. And then I didn’t have
to think much for the Bengal flavours – I knew what I wanted! I wanted to play
with kasundi mustard that is a highly used ingredient in Bengali Chicken or
fish & also a lot of salads here. Then I wanted to bring on some peanuts
for the crunch and add in the green lemon as the citrus because the smell of
this lemon is stronger than any aroma.
Here is a
sweet little recipe of the Bengal spice salad – this has a lot of raw flavours
that begins to develop in your mouth. As beautiful it looks – the taste gets
better with every bite!
Ingredients:
½ cup
cucumber (chopped)
¼ cup tomato
(chopped)
¼ cup raw
mango (chopped)
¾ cup
sprouts (Chicpeas & moong)
¼ cup Carrot
(grated)
2 green
chillies (chopped)
1 inch
ginger (juvenile chopped)
2 tbsp
roasted peanuts
Salad
dressing:
2 tbsp
Kasundi Mustard sauce
1 tbsp
Bengal lemon juice
½ tsp rock
salt (black)
½ tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp red
chilli powder
3 tbsps
Coriander (chopped)
Method:
1. Mix the
salad dressing ingredients in a small glass bowl and let it rest for about 5
minutes.
2. Take a large bowl and add all the salad ingredients together. Give
them a nice stir.
3. As it is a raw salad, it doesn’t require any cooking.
4. Gently
pour the salad dressing on and mix it well with the salad.
5. Keep this to
marinate for at least an hour. Then serve!
Hope you enjoy this salad as much as i do!
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