The market is filled with fresh, vibrant summer veggies that can be tossed together to make a cooling Indian-style Cucumber Salad.

Have it as a salad meal or a side dish -- it abounds with flavours and textures and is just the thing for the heat. The lemon juice ties it together, along with the spicy dressing of green chillies and oil.

You can serve the cucumber concoction with Chef Ravi Kiran's Four Millet Soup, Chef Satish Arora's JRD Club Sandwich, or Nadiya's Creamy Mushroom And Peas Risotto.

Cucumber Salad

Recipe courtesy: California Walnuts

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 3 medium-sized cucumbers
• 2 green chillies, chopped
• 1 tbsp mustard oil
• ½ tsp red chilly powder
• ¼ tsp haldi or turmeric powder
• 1 tsp oil
• ½ tsp aamchur or dried mango powder
• 1 neebu or lemon, juiced + 1 lemon, sliced
• 2 tbsp til or sesame seeds
• ¼ cup walnuts
• Pomegranate arils or seed pods, optional
• 1 yellow Shimla mirchi or yellow capsicum/bell pepper, cut into long strips, optional
• Pinch salt

Method

• Toast the sesame seeds in a frying pan without oil, over low heat, till golden -- keep stirring, they can easily burn.
  Cool and grind the toasted sesame seeds to a fine powder in a blender/mixer.
  Keep aside.
• Heat the 1 tsp oil in a small kadhai or frying pan.
  Toast the walnuts in the pan over low heat.
  Take off heat, cool and roughly chop.
  Keep aside.
• Chop the cucumber into chunky batons (sticks).
  Place them in a large bowl or plate.
  Keep aside.
• Heat the mustard oil in a tempering pan over medium heat till it starts to smoke.
  Lower the heat and add the chopped green chillies, red chilly powder and haldi.
  Fry the spices briefly.
  Take off heat and pour over the chopped cucumber, scraping out all the oil and spices from the pan.
  Sprinkle the roasted sesame seed powder and mix well.
  Sprinkle the aamchur powder.
  Add in the lemon juice.
  Mix in the strips of yellow bell peppers and the pomegranate arils.
  Add in the salt, sliced lemon and the chopped walnuts just before serving.

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