Gujerati carrot salad

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Busy, busy, busy. What I need is a quick and easy recipe with both veggies and meat.
One of my favourites is Gajar ka salad, a Gujerati carrot salad from my very stained and food stippled copy of Madjur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery. It is an excellent candidate for Weekend Herb Blogging over at Kalyn’s Kitchen.
There are only two humans in the house and a single old fashioned large-sized carrot is enough – as opposed to the overpriced spring or baby variety. Simply grate the carrot into a bowl. Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a pan and add about half a tablespoon of mustard seeds.
As soon as they start popping , pour over the carrots. Add the juice of half a lemon and salt to taste.
I usually eat this with a Tandoori or tikka chicken. Now I know I’m about to shock more than a few people who know my food fascist tendencies by using a packaged good – Patak’s Original Tandoori Curry Paste.
It is genuinely a good product. And there is a Mr Patak, although since he runs the biggest Indian food factory in the known universe I know he doesn’t actually add the tamarind, garlic, salt or even colours E163, E122 and E129 to the mix.
But importantly he is a real person. I think I even met him once.
All I have to do is add two parts of yoghurt to one of the Patak’s mix and marinate my organic chopped chicken thighs to the mix. Marinate for a couple of hours and griddle (broil) it.
That’s it, with the addition of some hot mango chutney, perhaps.

WHB,

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