Indianized Coleslaw?

One of my new year resolutions this year is to eat more salads, I feel salads are a great way to include a variety of vegetables and fruits in one go. So with a view to making more salads, I have been looking for ideas and came across one for a coleslaw with a pineapple dressing. This idea appealed to me and I decided to make that salad for dinner. I started out on the salad, made the dressing and put it in the refrigerator to chill, before I continued on to prep the vegetables.

Just as I got the vegetables ready, it struck me that if R does not like the sweetish taste of the pineapple dressing I will be left with a whole lot of salad to consume by myself. My resolution to eat salads definitely did not extend to eating so much salad all by myself :-) I decided to make an Indianized version with half the vegetables so that R who likes spice more than sweet would be happy too. I quickly gave half the salad an Indian  twist, tasted it and loved how it tasted. So the rest of the vegetables soon got converted to the Indian style salad as well and now this variation of salad appears frequently on my table.




Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and method to make Indianized coleslaw
1/2 head of cabbage shredded fine
1/8 head of red/ purple cabbage shredded fine
2 large carrots shredded fine
1 cup pineapple pieces crushed slightly

handful cilantro (coriander leaves) cut very fine

Salt to taste approximately 3/4 tsp
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp lime juice

Seasoning
3 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 Thai or Indian variety green chilies (or to taste) slit lengthwise and cut fine
2 pinches of asafoetida (hing/ perungayam)
2 pinches of fenugreek powder (optional) (see notes)

In a large serving bowl, add the first four ingredients and mix well.

Add salt to taste, lemon juice, lime juice and cilantro and mix well.

Heat oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds to it, when the seeds begin to splutter add green chilies to it.

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When green chilies begin to turn color, quickly add asafoetida and fenugreek powder (if using) and give it a quick stir and pour this entire mixture on top of the veggies.

Mix everything well and serve cold or at room temperature.

Serves approximately 3 to 4 

Notes

I always keep some fenugreek powder at home, so I used it in this recipe for a little more flavor. It is completely optional and you can just as easily skip that ingredient.

How I make fenugreek seed powder is I spread fenugreek seeds on a microwave safe plate and microwave on high for 1 minute or until fenugreek seeds start to exude an aroma and turn a little browner. Then I cool to room temperature and grind into a fine powder in my spice grinder and store in an air tight container and use as required.

The pineapple adds a very interesting taste and texture to this recipe, so I recommend not to skip this fruit.

This is my first contribution to the Healthy Inspirations Event- Salad being hosted on this site

Event Announcement

Even though the days are not really as warm as it should be for this time of the year, they definitely are getting a lot longer and slightly warmer than even just a few weeks back.  With longer and warmer days, inevitably my thoughts turn to spring. I am looking forward to this spring with an eagerness I do not remember having in the past, a result, I think, of having a more cold and bitter winter than usual.

And spring time in my book definitely translates to salad time. With warmer weather I find the need for hearty soups being replaced by an enthusiasm for salads. Salads can play such a vital role in maintaining a healthy diet and are a great way to incorporate a variety of veggies and fruits in our diet all at once. The recommended five to eight servings of vegetables and fruits a day is a lot easier to achieve if we include more salads in our diet. So I would like to choose Salads as the topic for the second edition of the Healthy Inspirations Event.

I would like to invite all my readers, both bloggers and non-bloggers to participate and send in their entries to this event. I am hoping to see a lot of healthy salads that will help all of us achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Here are some guidelines for this event

If you are a blogger and would like to participate

Then make any kind of healthy vegetarian or vegan salad  post it on your site and link back to this announcement page.

Feel free to use the logo as it will help to spread the word.

If you have posts in your archives that fit this theme then please re-post them with a link back to the announcement page.

Email your submissions to events@veginspirations.com with the subject Healthy Inspirations Event-Salads

In your email please include your name, your blog name,your location,  your recipe name, recipe URL and a picture of the dish.

The last date for entries is April 16, 2010

If you are a non blogger and wish to participate,

Please send in your name, recipe, location and a picture of the salad to events@veginspirations.com with the subject Healthy Inspirations Event- Salads

Looking forward to a lot of healthy salads from all of you . If you have any further questions please feel free to leave a comment below or send me an email at the above email address with subject line Question and I will get back to you asap.