Sail with the Salads

Salads have had an interesting journey from being an accompaniment to being the maincourse. Often associated as the necessary evil for the nutritious benefits to being a yummy addition to the food table.

The ‘Salad’ type that we have all grown up eating is the ever so common green salad served in restaurants and made at home always. Cucumber, carrot, tomato, onion, beetroot, raddish all cut arranged in concentric circles with a chilli in the plate. Another version is the ‘kachumber’- cucumber, tomatoes and onions chopped, mixed with a dash of lime, pinch of salt and chpped green chillies. The ‘kosambri’ in the south of India has a bit of soaked urad dal and grated coconut. This is combined with cucumber and carrots finely chopped or even the American sweet corn and pomegranate. We also have the ‘raita’ which could be the kachumber added to the whipped curd/dahi. We also have the ‘mooli raita’ which is grated raddish with curd, with a tadka of mustard.

Salads can be served as an appetiser, just before the main course or as an accompaniment to the main course. At times, they become the main course. So, as students, for those evenings when we want to eat light and healthy, here are a few quick salads that we can dish up!

We now have many fancy salads, the simpler versions of which are presented here:

• the greek salad (lettuce, bel pepper, cucumber, onion, cherry tomatoes, olive oil and feta cheese). To be chilled before serving.
• waldorf salad (apple, toasted walnuts, lime and mayonnaise)
• maze (sweet corn, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and paneer- all finely chopped with a dash of lime and chaat powder)

• an Indian salad with kabuli chana ( boiled kabuli chana, onions, cucumber, tomatoes and chillies finely chopped; with a dash of lime, salt and chaat powder).
• Sprouted green moong salad- with cucumber, tomatoes and onions. For a variation, you can add well boiled rajma also in this.
• a snack kinds chatpata salad with cucumber juliennes and kacha meetha mango juliennes, a dash of olive oil and salt.
• For the fruit lovers, make thin slices of apples- red and green pears. Add a dash of lime, olive oil, honey and oregano. Please chill this salad too for the crunchy experience!

Happy salad making!

Madhurima Das (MGMT)