Mushroom Pepper Chili (It's Delicious!)

 You have no idea, how much have I fallen in love with this dish! Mushrooms have become the star guest on the grocery list, ever since this was made for the first time in my kitchen. And you know you like it a lot when you have already eaten most of it from the plate and still trying to go for the last piece (even though you know the other person wants it as bad.) J

And you will know why I am raving so much about this once you make it too. If you love Indo-Chinese food, go, get the mushrooms NOW! J . I am not sure if the exact same dish is served in restaurants, but I do know chilly paneer, chili chicken are similar in some ways.  But quite frankly, this beats them all. For one, it tastes good, second – it’s super healthy. Seriously, give it a try!

I write too much, cause I love sharing the story behind every dish/ recipe. And each time I try to just move on to the recipe, I recollect what else I wanted to share. J . Ok this recipe happened purely because one of my vegetarian friends told me that he eats this mushroom recipe at some place in Bangalore and it’s called Pepper Mushroom and raved a lot about it. And the name sounded so fascinating that I just made something assuming what 'could' it be like. So never know, I could be horribly wrong in replicating that recipe, but it sure does work for me!! J

And one last bit. I usually share recipes with my friends to get their reactions/feedback before posting here. And one of my very good friends/ critics, Shaan had this to say:

“Truly a great dish...esp if u love indo-Chinese cuisine! Pls pls post this and help poor souls like us..:-) we are enjoying it with d-coke! I added all three types of peppers as well...”

You need: (should serve 3 but with me around, it’s good for 2 only!)

Button Mushrooms – 8 Oz or 250 grams

Cornflour – 3 Tbsp

Rice Flour – 1 Tbsp (for crunch)

Salt – to taste

Pepper – about a tbsp. (fresh coarse ground)

Oil – about 2 tsp (can use more if no restriction J )

Ginger – 1 tsp grated, ½ inch cut into juliennes.

Garlic paste– 1 tsp

Onion – 1 no. medium (fine chopped)

Onion – ½ medium size (with layers cut into square shape)

Long green chilies – 5-6nos. (the variety that has absolutely no heat, slit them)

Small green chilies – 1-2 nos (slit and seeds removed, adjust to taste)

Capsicum/ Bell Peppers – 1 Nos (cut into squares, can use colored peppers too)

Dark Soya Sauce – 1 Tbsp

Vinegar – 1 Tbsp

Tomato Ketchup – 1 Tbsp

Lemon Juice – 1 tsp  (optional)

Spring Onion – only green part cut into 1 inch pieces (optional)

1. Dunk the mushrooms in hot water for a minute and run under cold water and decant all water. Let the mushrooms remain a little moist so that the flour mixture sticks well to the mushroom.
2. In a bowl, mix cornflour, rice flour, a 2-3 pinches of salt, and about a 1tsp of ground pepper and mix well. 
3. Now coat all mushrooms with the flour mix. I usually coat them well once and wait for a few min and repeat the process with the remaining flour that didn’t stick the first time. This helps as the first layer soaks all the moisture and then second layer sticks even better but will be a little dry-ish adding to the crunch.. 
4. In a wide non stick pan, add about 1 tsp of oil and pan fry the mushroom on medium high and then on low flame to make it crispy. Pan should be wide enough so that mushrooms have space to fry well, else the moisture will make them soft instead. And if you are generous with oil, you don’t have to worry about all this. J
5. Transfer the mushrooms to a plate once they are brown from all sides.
6. Also fry squarish shaped layers of onion pieces and the bell peppers (typically the kinds u get in chinese gravy) in the same pan and transfer to another bowl.
7. In the pan add remaining 1 tsp of oil. 
8. Add grated ginger and garlic paste and fry well. 
9. Now add fine chopped onions and slit green chilies both big and small. Fry till onions get translucent. 
10. Now add soya sauce, tomato ketchup and vinegar. Fry till a little dry.
11. Now add mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, ginger juliennes and give a quick stir and add the remaining freshly ground pepper.
12. And if you are adding the greens of spring onions, do it now. 
13. Serve on a nice looking plate and squeeze lime if you wish to add some zing!

 *I sprinkle very little, ready ‘very little’ water after I coat the mushroom with flour mixture the first time. This helps more flour stick to mushrooms. But be careful to not make it gooey.

**You can always be generous with oil while frying mushrooms. And infact mushrooms taste very good even as simple stir fry like this.

***If you are not sure about the tang bit, try squeezing lime juice on a small portion only. Only then on the rest if you like.

****The black pepper quantity can be adjusted to suit your liking.

*****I feel this recipe will work well with paneer and boiled potatoes too.  

Egg Patty

Here comes something all eggitarians will love! I have many friends who enjoy eating eggs but don't get many varieties of egg-based snack/ appetizer at home or while eating out. This has a nice mild taste of an egg, even though you never feel you are biting into one. A bite and it will leave you guessing – where's the egg! These nice crisp golden brown bites are heavenly!

This patty is supposed to be deep fried, but nah, that's way too much oil! Pan fried with a little oil works just fine! Remember, always try adding ajwain/carrom seeds when you are using besan/ gramflour to fry something. They compliment each other and at the same time have digestive properties. You will not experience the typical heaviness after gorging on fried stuff if you add the ajwain. 

For your next party, you can make them in different shapes and sizes for a pretty looking appetizer tray! I am posting two pics. One to show you the texture and second one to show you shapes you can try making. But don't worry if the shapes don't come out perfect, the egg patty will still be delectable! Serve it with some hot spicy chili sauce! A word of caution here – always keep some distance from the pan as you fry them, since the eggs just pop a little bit as they turn golden brown. Don't let this scare you, it's all easy and safe, just that a word of caution for a safe kitchen! :)

You need:

(makes 10-12 pcs)

Large boiled eggs – 5-6 nos. (see my note below for a perfectly boiled egg)

Besan/ Gramflour – ¾ Cup

Ajwain/ Carrom seeds – ¼ tsp

Salt – to taste

Green chilies – 2-3 nos. (finely chopped)

Spring Onions – 5-6 nos.  (finely chopped, use both white and green part)

Crushed black pepper – ¼ tsp 

Baking Soda - 1/8 tsp

Water – 2 Tbsp

Oil – enough to pan fry (I used 1 tbsp for a batch of 6 patties in total f)

1. In a wide bowl, grate boiled eggs using a thick side of the grater. Don't use the fine grater as the eggs will get mashed up and the patties will not have any texture. If you don't have a thick grater, fine chop the eggs instead.
2. Add besan, ajwain, salt, green chilies, spring onions, black pepper and baking soda. Add very very little water, just about 2 tbsp of water. This should be enough to bind the ingredients as the egg yolk is sticky enough already.   You may add 1 tsp of water at a time to adjust the consistency of the patty mixture if its still too dry.
3. Divide the mixture into 12 equal parts. Shape them any way you like! 
4. In a non-stick pan, heat 1 Tbsp of oil and fry the patties till golden brown in color. Cook them on medium high so that they cook through and also have a golden brown crispy exterior.
5. Serve with spicy chili sauce, red or green, I leave it to your discretion. :)

Kathal Subzi (Green Jackfruit Curry)

Kathal (jackfruit) has such amazing fibrous texture and nutty taste, even a non-vegetarian would happily settle for this! I just love this curry with steamed rice or even with pooris (deep fried indian bread). Make sure you use only raw/baby jackfruit for this curry and not the ripe one. 

As a kid I remember holi was never complete without this curry and dahi - vada. And in those times most vegetables and fruits used to be seasonal and finding jackfruit around that time of the year used to be a project in itself. But dad would not give up and use all his resources to make this curry possible on Holi. Oh makes me so nostalgic!!

You need: (serves 2)

Kathal/ Green or Raw Jackfruit – 16 Oz can  or sufficient for two 

Onion – 1 medium size 

Tomato – ½ medium (it should be half the quantity of onion)

Ginger – ½ inch piece

Garlic – 3-4 cloves

Bay leaf – 1 

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Green cardamom – 2 nos.

Black cardamom – 1 no. 

Coriander powder – 1.5 tsp

Garam masala – 1 tsp

Red chili powder – ½ tsp 

Mustard oil – 3-4 tbsp (used in parts)

1. Blend onion, ginger and garlic into a fine paste. Keep aside.
2. Blend tomatoes into a fine paste. Keep aside. 
3. Traditionally the jackfruit is deep fried to a golden brown color. But I pan fry them on a non-stick pan in 1-2 tablespoon of mustard oil till they are golden brown on all sides and get a little crispy from outside. Using mustard oil for this preparation is recommended. Keep aside. 
4. In a pressure cooker, heat the remaining mustard oil. 
5. Add bay leaf, cumin seeds, green cardamoms, black cardamom. 
6. Once you get the aroma of the spices add the onion, ginger, garlic paste. Immediately add salt. Now fry till they become golden brown. Frying onions well is important in this recipe.
7. Now add the turmeric powder, red chili powder and coriander powder. Fry on a medium high. 
8. Add the tomato blended tomatoes and fry till they become soft.
9. Now add the garam masala and fry well. Once the garam masala is cooked well and the oil starts leaving the soil, add 2-3 tbsp of water and fry till the water dries up completely. 
10. Add the jackfruit and mix the masala well. 
11. Add sufficient water for the consistency you want.
12. Pressure cook on high heat till one whistle. 
13. Immediately switch off as the canned jackfruits are already quite tender. If you are using fresh ackfruit, you may have to wait for 2-3 whistles, depending on your pressure cooker. 
14. Tastes best with steamed rice or poori, paratha! 

*Fresh jackfruit tastes much better. However the ones you get in cans are also pretty good in the absence of fresh ones. Just drain all the liquid and wash thoroughly to remove any salt or preservative. I leave the jackfruit chunks from the can, as is, since they are soft and will break easily when pressure cooked. Even if you want to make smaller chunks, make sure the fleshy part (which makes the central core of the jackfruit) holding all the fibrous portion  stays intact, otherwise the jackfruit will fall apart while cooking.  

**If you are removing skin of jackfruit yourself, make sure you grease your hands and knife well as it  can get very sticky and slimey. 

***Make sure the jackfruit is really raw, else your gravy will be sweetish. 

Chicken Ghassi/ Kori (Koli) Gassi

This chicken curry reminds me of my crazy days in Manipal. Though hostel food was not really worth eating, but some generous local friends did treat us to good Mangalorean food! And it's during this time when I discovered home made Mangalorean cuisine that is so full of life and flavor! 

Chicken Ghassi or popularly known as Kori Ghassi goes so well with the sweetness of Neer Dosa (Neer means water in  Kannada and this dosa is super soft, super light pancake made with a very diluted batter) or steamed rice! I had initially made only 2 doses for myself but ended up eating a lot more!! The lovely coconutty flavor with the spice of the red chili is mouth-watering. It is definitely worth a try. Fairly simple to make too!

You need

For Chicken Marinade:

Chicken, 1 inch pieces - 400 grams

Lemon juice –  ¾ Tbsp

Ginger paste – ½ Tbsp

Garlic paste – ½ Tbsp

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Salt 

Marinade for an hour atleast

For the Curry:

Fresh coconut scraped and dry roasted– ½ Cup 

Coriander seeds – 1 tsp 

Black peppercorns – 4-5 nos. 

Fenugreek seeds/ Methi  – ¼  tsp 

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp 

Whole dry chillies – 3-4 Nos. (adjust to taste)

Oil - 3 tablespoons

Onions – 1 medium size (chopped, will be used in parts)

Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp

Curry leaves – 6-7 nos. 

Garlic – 3-4 cloves (minced)

Tamarind pulp – ¾ Tbsp

Coconut milk – ¼  Cup

1. Marinate chicken with lemon juice, ginger, garlic paste, turmeric and salt for an hour. 
2. In 1 tsp of oil lightly sauté coriander seeds, black peppercorns, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds and whole red chillies.
3. Grind these along with roasted coconut and half an onion to a fine paste using a little water if required. 
4. Heat remaining oil in pan. Add mustard seeds.
5. Once they splutter, add garlic, remaining onions and curry leaves. Sauté for five minutes on low heat till its golden brown in color. 
6. Add marinated chicken and fry till it turns brown on all sides.
7. Add the ground masala made of the coconut, onion and whole spices  to the chicken and coat it well. Sauté for five minutes till you get nice aroma. 
8. Add 1 cup of water, adjust salt. Stir, cover and cook for ten minutes or until the chicken is cooked.
9. Add tamarind pulp and stir well. 
10. Add coconut milk and remove from heat just when it comes to a boil. 
11. Serve hot with Neer Dosa or steamed rice. 

*To make neer dosa, use regular dosa batter and dilute it till its almost buttermilk consistency. Pour on a hot non-stick griddle and turn your griddle a little bit to spread the batter. You can spread the batter like regular dosa since its too tin. Spray a little oil and fold the dosas into a semicircle and again fold triangles directly on the griddle. Don't worry if they break as they are too soft to stay firm. 

Malaysian Chicken Curry (Nyonya Style)

This is a typical Nyonya (also called nonya) preparation. Nonya cooking is the result of blending Chinese ingredients and wok cooking techniques with spices used in Malaysian and Indonesian cuisine. The food is tangy, aromatic, spicy and herbal.

Personally for me, its a perfect mix of Indian spices in a curry (like cinnamon, start anise) with Thai herbs (lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves). When you take the first bite, you will realize that all the herbs and spices lend a special taste to the curry as they blend in but at the same time hold on to their unique flavors as they unfold slowly, one after another.

Give it a try, as this Malaysian curry will take you by surprise. Tastes best with jasmine rice made with a little bit of coconut milk. Add Vietnamese Summer Roll with a peanutty dipping sauce as an appetizer and bingo! You have a perfect Asian dinner ready!

You need:

For the Chicken Curry

Paste:

Garlic cloves – 4-5 (peeled and roughly chopped)

Long red chilies - 4-5 (trimmed, deseeded and roughly chopped)

Lemon grass – 3 stalks (trimmed, outer leaves removed and thinly sliced)

Galangal - 5cm piece (or fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped)

Large shallots - 4 (peeled and chopped)

Ground turmeric – 1 tsp

Vegetable oil – 2-3 Tbsp

Curry:

Boneless chicken – 300 grams (thigh pieces cut into bite size cubes)

Vegetable oil – 2 Tbsp

Onions – 2 medium size (thinly sliced)

Salt – ½ tsp

Freshly ground black pepper – ½ tsp

Kaffir lime leaves – 4 nos.

Cinnamon stick – 1 no.

Star anise - 1

Coconut milk/ cream – 200 ml (try using a Thai brand which is thick)

Palm sugar (or soft brown sugar) – 1 tsp

Light soy sauce – 2 Tbsp

Fish sauce – 2 Tbsp

Long green beans - ½ cup trimmed and cut into 5cm lengths

Coriander leaves/Cilantro - Roughly torn

For the Coconut Rice:

Jasmine Rice/ Thai fragrant or other long grain rice – 300 grams

Coconut milk – 200 ml

Water – 200 ml

Fresh ginger, peeled - 5cm piece

Pinch of sea salt

1. First make the curry paste: Put the garlic, chilies, lemon grass, ginger, shallots and turmeric in a food processor and whiz to a paste. With the motor running, trickle in a little groundnut oil and blend well, scraping the sides of the processor several times. (Or you can pound the ingredients together in batches using a pestle and mortar).
2. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a large heavy-based pan or a wok.
4. Tip in the curry paste and stir over a medium heat for a few minutes until fragrant.
5. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes until they are beginning to soften.
6. Add chicken to the pan and stir to coat them in the spice paste.
7. Add the lime leaves, cinnamon stick, star anise, coconut milk, stock, sugar, soy and fish sauces and bring to the boil.
8. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook gently for 12-15 min or until the chicken is tender.
9. Skim off any excess oil on the surface of the curry. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
10. Tip in the beans, put the lid on and cook for another 3-4 minutes until the beans are tender.
11. Scatter the coriander leaves over the curry and serve with the coconut rice.

For the coconut rice:

1. Rinse the grains in cold water to get rid of any excess starch.
2. Drain and tip into a heavy-based pan.
3. Add the coconut milk, ginger, water and salt. Stir well and bring to the boil.
4. Then reduce the heat to a simmer.
5. Cover and gently simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Keep the lid on, remove the pan from heat. Let it stay as is for 5-10 minutes.
7. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve while it is still hot.

Thai Red Curry (Vegetarian & Non Vegetarian)

Bright aromatic red curry is conventionally the strongest of  curries in Thai cuisine, while green curry is usually considered the mildest.  Like any other Thai dish, perfect balance between the sweet-sour-spicy taste is the only secret to an irresistibly tasty dish. 

With the ease of  availability of all kinds of curry pastes nowadays, it's pretty easy to make a decent Thai dish. But it's a different magic watching the bright, bubbling, fiery, red curry simmering on your stove, while the jasmine rice steams in the background. 

You need:

For the paste: 

Dried Thai Red Chilies – 7-8 or to taste

Galangal – 1/2  heaping Tbsp (Replace with ginger if not available.  But galangal does make a difference)
Shallots – 1/4 cup, chopped (use frozen if you don't have fresh)

Lemon Grass – 1.5 heaping Tbsp (finely chopped)

Cilantro Stems – 1 Tbsp (don't use leaves, only the stems)

Garlic – 3-4 cloves chopped

Thai Red Chilies – to taste (optional)

Kaffir Lime Leaves – 4 to 5 (Lime peel can be substituted but a huge huge difference in taste)

Whole White Peppercorns – 1/2 tsp (black can be substituted)

Salt – 1/2 tsp or to taste

Paprika – as needed and optional for red color

Oil – 2 Tbsp

* Zesty lemongrass and aromatic kaffir lime leaves are irreplaceable parts of Thai curries. And anyone asking you to substitute it with something else, is perhaps kidding with you! :)

For the curry:

Cut vegetable chunks of eggplant, carrot, onions

Shrimps/ Prawns

Kaffir Lime leaves

Lemon grass 

Lime juice - 1/2 tsp

Fish sauce (can replace with light soy sauce, but fish sauce does add to the real  flavor)

Palm Sugar/ Jaggery/ Sugar - 1 tsp

Thai basil - 3-4 leaves

Oil - 1 tsp

Salt - To taste

Preparing the paste:

1. Soak de-seeded dried red chilies in 1/3 cup hot water for 20 min. Remove the soaked chilies from the water and place them along with all of the remaining ingredients in a blender or spice grinder. 
2. Grind all of the ingredients into a smooth paste.
3. Heat oil in a pan and fry the paste. Cook until the oil starts to separate and the paste starts to clump together . This should not take more than 6-7 min. If you feel, the red color is not intense, add paprika and mix on a very low flame for 1 min.
4. Remove from the heat and allow the paste to cool down. 
5. Store it in a clean airtight jar. You can store unused paste to use it in future. You can refrigerate up to 1 month  and keep it frozen for unto 6 months. 

Preparing the curry:

1. Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan, add lime leaves and lemon grass. Stir fry for 15-20 sec. 
2. Add the shrimps or chicken or both (skip for vegetarian curry), all the vegetable and 2 Tbsp red curry paste. Stir for another 1 min. 
3. Add half of a 14 Oz. coconut milk can, fish sauce, lime juice. 
4. Add 1 tsp of Palm Sugar/ Jaggery/ Sugar. Mix well
5. At this stage you can give it a taste and adjust the curry paste and coconut milk to get a balanced spicy-sweet taste.
6. Adjust salt if required.  Boil for 1-2 min. Don't boil too much else coconut milk will curdle and lose the taste and smooth texture of the curry
7. Add 2-3 basil leaves roughly torn. 
8. Serve hot with steamed rice.

*Lemon grass - use from the root till the point where it is soft and juicy. Only this part has all the flavor, discard the rest. 

**Reserve the water used for soaking chilies and use it to grind a smooth paste is required.

***Wear gloves while de-seeding whole red chilies to avoid any burning sensation. Its a much cleaner process and helps you remove all the seeds. Hand are all clean and eyes safe, so its worth wearing those gloves!

****If you are refrigerating, place a parchment paper or plastic sheet on a plate. Now    put tablespoonful mounds which are a little spread out. Freeze them. Once frozen, store them an air tight, freezer safe container. This way, you can use as much as you want each time, without having to thaw all of it. 

Mirchi Bhajji/ Stuffed Jalapeno Fritters

On a rainy day, while sipping a cup of hot ginger tea, over a session of cards or a chit chat session with family or friends. This fried devil is an absolute winner. I always make a few extra, and stuff inside a bun with green and tamarind chutney, and gorge on it the next day.

 You need:

Jalapenos/ Badi Mirchi/ Banana Peppers/ BhavNagari –  4 Nos. (make a slit for stuffing them)

Boiled potatoes – 2 medium size

Onion – 1 medium size (fine chopped)

Coriander seeds (whole) – 1.5 tsp 

Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp

Chat masala – ¼ tsp

Salt 

Chopped Cilantro/ Coriander leaves – 1 Tbsp

Oil – 1 tsp

Gram flour/ Besan – 1 cup

Baking soda - pinch

Water

1. In a pan heat oil. Add cumin seeds and coriander seeds. 
2. Once the coriander seed is light brown, add the ginger and onion, salt. Fry till translucent. 
3. Add the potatoes and chat masala. Mash it well and fry for a min. 
4. Remove from flame and add chopped cilantro. Let this stuffing cool for while. 
5. Fill this stuffing in the mirchi. Fill till the slit  can be closed back. Keep aside.
6. Now in a bowl, mix the besan, baking soda. Add enough water to make a thick batter. Should not be too thin else it won't coat well. 
7. Deep fry on medium high flame. I mostly shallow fry them in a non stick pan using only 2-3 tablespoon of oil. 
8. Serve with mint and tamarind chutney. 

*If you have some batter left, use sliced potato, eggplant, onions etc. to make vegetable fritters. 

Thai Prawn-Mango Salad (Thai Shrimp-Mango Salad)

The only difference between this salad and Thai Mango Salad, as the name suggests, is the addition of prawns/ shrimps. I think the sweetness of prawns goes so wonderfully well with tangy-sweet-spicy salad! It is a good appetizer too! I have written so much in the Thai Mango Salad post, I feel this time around, I should just get on with the recipe!

OK. There are three key ingredients that make this salad flavoricious (don't know if there is any such word like that, I just coined it) – toasted peanuts, kaffir lime leaves and of course shripms. While shrimps lends a sweet, rich flavor, toasted peanuts give a nice crunch between the tangy-hot-sweet bite. Though traditionally kaffir lime leaves are not added to this dish, I feel lime leaves give it a totally new dimension. But I  know, in most part of the world kaffir lime leaves are hard to come by, so if you can't find any, don't worry, it will still taste awesome!! 


You can always add deep fried calamari, crab meat, baked tilapia,  or any seafood of your choice

You need:

Semi ripe mango – 2 Parts (I prefer slightly ripe mango which is still very firm when you press the surface and try picking a variety that is not too sour) 

Cucumber – 1 Part (discard the seed part completely)

Carrot - 1 Part

Tomato - 1 Part (discard the juicy seed part completely)

Greens of spring onion - 1 Part

Red onion - 1 Part

Kaffir Lime Leaves – 2-3 Nos.

Shrimp/ Prawns – As per your liking

Salt

Pepper

Cream Sherry (optional) – 2 Tbsp 

Toasted peanut – roughly broken into halves

Getting the veggies ready:

Make very fine juliennes of all the vegetables. You can always add or subtract as per your choice. 

Getting the salad dressing ready: 

Just follow the ratio of ingredients as below, and make as much you wish. Best way to do it, is to first make the dressing, taste and then add the veggies. This is because you can always tweak the dressing to your taste before you add the veggies, but once added, there is no going back! ;)

Lime juice – 2 Tbsp

Sugar – 1 tsp

Fish sauce – ½ tsp (optional, or replace with ¼ tsp of light soy sauce)

Getting the Shrimp ready:

Marinate the shrimp/ prawns with salt, pepper and cream sherry for not any more than 15 min.

In a pan, heat 1 tsp of oil, add shrimps and fry on high flame. Don't over cook or  they will not be succulent anymore. Rule of thumb - cook till shrimps turn pink, and there is no pale patch anywhere, that's when you know its done. 

Now getting the salad ready:

Pour the dressing in a big bowl, add all the veggies, add the toasted peanut and then shrimps. Toss all of them gently so as to coat the dressing uniformly. Serve immediately. 

**If you are making it for a party, you can chop all the veggies and keep them all in an air tight container (don't mix them, keep them separate so that their individual flavors intact) in refrigerator. Make the dressing and store it in a glass jar and refrigerate. Keep toasted peanuts in a box. Only shrimps will have to be made just before serving.

Thai Mango Salad (Vegetarian/ Eggetarian)

I just love the way this salad preparation relaxes me. I usually put down all the ingredients on the kitchen counter near the the window and look at all the colors that will soon be a part of this sweet-sour-spicy salad. The pale yellow from the mango, light green from the cucumber, light pink from onion, deep red from tomato, orange from carrot, bright red from thai red chili, and a fresh green color from cilantro. It's like a song!

I diligently try to get fine juliennes of everything to form lovely ribbons. There are so many textures and flavors in one single platter, yet they all marry together so beautifully! 

You can't help but wonder, it really must have been someone who looked at life so differently to think this up! Or maybe it's just my love for Thai food, that makes me so happy. 

OK now back to the dish. There are two ingredients that make this salad interesting – toasted peanuts and kaffir lime leaves. Toasted peanuts give a nice crunch between the tangy-hot-sweet bite. Though traditionally kaffir lime leaves are not added to this dish, I feel the lime leaves adds a totally new dimension. But I  know, in most part of the world kaffir lime leaves are hard to come by, so if you can't find any, don't worry, it will still tastes awesome!! 

You need:

Semi ripe mango – 2 Parts (I prefer slightly ripe mango which is still very firm when you press the surface and try picking a variety that is not too sour) 

Cucumber – 1 Part (discard the seed part completely)

Carrot - 1 Part

Tomato - 1 Part (discard the juicy seed part completely)

Greens of spring onion - 1 Part

Red onion - 1 Part

Kaffir Lime Leaves – 2-3 Nos.

Eggs (Optional) –  Soft boiled or Scrambled with salt pepper

Toasted peanut – roughly broken into halves

Getting the veggies ready:

Make very fine juliennes of all the vegetables. You can always add or subtract as per your choice. 

Getting the salad dressing ready: 

Just follow the ratio of ingredients as below, and make as much you wish. Best way to do it, is to first make the dressing, taste and then add the veggies. This is because you can always tweak the dressing to your taste before you add the veggies, but once added, there is no going back! ;)

Lime juice – 2 Tbsp

Sugar – 1 tsp

Fish sauce – ½ tsp (optional, pure vegetarians  replace with ¼ tsp of light soy sauce)

Salt - if required

Getting the eggs ready:
Bring water to a boil, add eggs. Cover and boil for 1 min. Switch off the flame and let the eggs rest in hot water for 15-20 min. You get perfect, soft boiled eggs with soft centre. De-shell and cut into 4-6 parts

Tossing the salad up:

Put all the ingredients of dressing in a big bowl, whisk well. If the taste is balanced (else, adjust at this stage), add all the veggies, toasted peanut. Toss all of them gently so as to coat the dressing uniformly. Serve on platter and add eggs on top of the salad. 

* If can replace egg with tofu or you can skip that as well.

**If you are making it for a party, you can chop all the veggies and keep them all in an air tight container (don't mix them, keep them separate so that their individual flavors intact) in refrigerator. Make the dressing and store it in a glass jar and refrigerate. Keep toasted peanuts in a box. 
***You may also want to try the seafood version of this salad  here: Thai Prawn-Mango Salad (Thai Shrimp-Mango Salad)