Monday, May 17, 2010

The Raw And The Uncooked, A Meatless Monday Special.


I'm loving this whole meatless Monday business. It's great to take a break from the same old same old.
 One of my food blogger friends Jeroxie at Addictive and Consuming, had a post up last night where she was describing some simply divine potato and pea samosas made with filo dough. I had no business reading it at that hour as I was starving when I finished and wanted those samosas! She also tossed the question out there as to what would go well with this dish to make it a meal and I started thinking about this fast, tasty and totally naked, naked, raw, raw South Indian kachumbar !
  Carrot and Beetroot Slaw.
   The interesting thing about this slaw is that it's a plural. Two, two, two slaws in one. Provided there's a mandoline or a food processor with a shredder blade available, it makes up in in no time at all.
   Here's how it goes.
  Peel:
3 large carrots
1 large beetroot
  The goal here is to get two cups  each of these shredded veggies. The other thing to remember is to shred them separately because this dish is all about the color and pizazz. Obviously the carrots get shredded first. If you're working with beets everything gets done first, otherwise the kitchen will look like a scene from CSI or Dexter or some such thing.
 Once the carrots and beets are  shredded and in separate bowls prepare the masala mix.

In a skillet or kadhai heat:
 2 Tbs of butter or oil
 When it's hot toss in:
 1/2 tsp of black mustard seed
 When the seeds begin to pop, take the pan off the heat and toss in:
 1/2 jalapeno pepper seeded and cut in long thin strands
 4 curry leaves
 The juice of 1 orange
 The juice of 1 lime
 3 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro.
  Mix it well and then drizzle it over the carrots and beets dividing it equally.
 Add salt and pepper to taste.
  For serving, place the dressed carrots and beets in two separate piles. Drizzle them with a bit of lime juice and  scatter them with chopped pistachios.
If only this carrot beet slaw could get acquainted with Jeroxies' samosas I think they'd get along famously. I'm definitely keeping this recipe for summer cookouts and I just might have to whip up some samosas myself to keep it company.

13 comments :

  1. wow, nice work! this looks great!

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  2. Yeap. Send some over to go with my samosa please.

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  3. @Penny aka jeroxie, yes..you have made me crave those samosas.

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  4. Another fresh and original idea from you Kathy -- thanks!

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  5. I love grated roots like this and this is such a fresh and colorful salad, just the way I like them. Not to mention healthy. Delicieux!

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  6. @island vittles,
    thanks so much..it's actually a traditional Indian salad..I'm thinking of trying it with some different veggies too.

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  7. Love the idea of mustard seeds and jalapeno to balance the sweet beets and carrots. So pretty too!

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  8. Beautiful. Love the Meatless Monday idea, too. Kind of taking the old Fish on Friday tradition one step further.

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  9. Oh god- the colors alone have me jumping through the screen. Excellent idea!

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  10. this looks incredible! i love the colors of the two and the masala mix with it sounds divine. great recipe!

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  11. A very beautiful, healthy raw salad. Will be full of energy after eating this :D Great for lunch with a slice of bread :D

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  12. Oooo! I love ANYTHING made with beets!

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  13. @Mary Moh,
    I'm making anther one this afternoon with different veggies. Speaking of bread I've been baking no knead artisan bread for Alan. He's loving it.

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