Recipe: Have Salad Not Poha!

Poha is trending on the internet and do you know why?

Because IndiGo Airlines labelled one of their onboard offerings of poha as a 'fresh salad' in an advertisement.

So why is poha trending because you folks are craving a salad with poha in it? That's a tough call because poha doesn't lend itself to salad exactly.

But here's two salads, one with a homemade dressing, to kill that salad urge.

The first is a simple Swiss Grune Salat or green salad that goes with everything or can be had by itself as a wonderfully healthy meal.

The second is an Indian-Style Potato Salad.

Zurich Grune Salat

Ingredients

• 1 large perfect tomato, chopped into 6 pieces
• 4 tsp chopped chives or else 3 tbsp chopped greens of a spring onion
• 2 cups lettuce leaves torn into bite-sized pieces, ideally mixed iceberg lettuce, lollo rosso lettuce and other greens like baby spinach

Dressing

• 1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
• 4-5 tbsp mayonnaise or a vegan mayonnaise
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 tsp mustard paste
• Pinch salt
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ tsp black pepper powder, freshly crushed
• 4-5 leaves fresh basil

Add on croutons

• 4-5 slices bread, chopped into 1-cm cubes
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp garlic paste, optional

Method

For the croutons

• In a glass bowl, add the bread cubes and drizzle on the olive oil.
• Microwave on high for 3-4 minutes and then stir and microwave for another 3-4 till nicely browned and crisp, taking care not to burn the croutons ie keep checking on them.
• Then stir in the garlic paste and toss and microwave for another minute.
• Take out of the microwave and cool and keep aside.
• Alternately fry up the bread cubes with the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over low heat, tossing all the time.
• In the final minute or 2 of cooking add the garlic paste and fry another minute or 2. 

For the dressing

• In a blender whip up all the ingredients and keep aside.

Assembly of the salad

• In a large bowl, toss the ingredients of the salad with the dressing.
• Serve sprinkled with the croutons.

Zelda's Note: You might consider adding 4-5 tbsp grated carrots, ½ a cucumber, peeled, cubed to the salad and topping the salad with a 2 tbsp grated cheese.

Zelda's Potato Chaat Salad

Ingredients

• 3 large potatoes, boiled but firm, peeled, chopped in 1-inch pieces
• 2 tsp imli or tamarind paste
• ½ kabuli chana or chickpeas, soaked overnight
• ½ tsp icing sugar
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 3-4 tbsp chopped green dhania or coriander or cilantro
• 1 tomato chopped fine
• 1 tsp chaat masala
• Salt, about a pinch, since chaat masala also has salt
• Squeeze of lime
• ½ tsp lal mirchi or red chilly powder

For serving

• 2 handfuls nylon sev
• 4-5 flat puris, like used in sev puri, crumbled

Method

• Boil the drained and washed kabuli chana with 3-4 cups water in a pressure cooker for 5-6 whistles over medium heat.
• Chana should be firm but cooked and not mushy.
• Open the cooker and cool.
• Mix the cooked chana with all the other ingredients
• Sprinkle the sev and crushed puris and serve.

Zelda's Note: You could consider adding 100-200 gm paneer cubed, especially if you don't like or eat potatoes and ½ a cucumber peeled and cubed and 1 tbsp finely chopped raw mango. Sweet potatoes can also replace potatoes.