This next recipe is inspired by Indian cuisine, with a fusion twist - banana blossom, green beans and tomatoes tossed in a fresh and tangy chaat masala dressing, with roasted peanuts, yogurt and coriander chutney. This salad is spicy, fresh, tangy, sweet and herby - it has so much flavour and really is a party in your mouth!
Banana blossom is now widely available in UK supermarkets, it comes brined in a can and is often used as a vegan fish alternative due to it's flaky texture; more traditionally though, banana blossom has its origins in Asian cuisine as a fresh ingredient, including being used as the hero of some salads. Chaat masala is an Indian spice blend often paired with fruits and salads - featuring ingredients like amchur (unripe mango powder), black salt and hing (asafoetida) - it's tangy, delicious, a little funky and is a great addition to this recipe. It's very different to garam masala that is typically used in cooking - I got mine from my local Indian supermarket, but some supermarkets are now starting to stock this delicious spice blend. Coriander chutney is a spicy and vibrant condiment that's super easy to make at home to your tastes and perfectly rounds off this salad.
I was inspired to make this recipe from my own homegrown green beans and some homegrown green chilies I was gifted. Whilst this recipe itself isn't traditional, it does take plenty of inspiration from India and pulls on traditional flavour combinations found in Indian cuisine - I hope it gets you inspired to try something new! You can enjoy this salad as is, as a main or a side dish, but I had some roti made by a friend that I served this with, which perfectly mopped up all the delicious dressing!
If you make this or any of my other recipes, please do snap a pic and tag me @euphoricvegan
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Spiced Banana Blossom Salad | Serves: 3-4 | Time: 20 mins
You'll need
- Chopping board
- Knife
- Mixing bowl
- Measuring cups & spoons
- Blender/food processor
- Serving platter
Ingredients
Salad
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp chaat masala
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and grated
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- Juice 1/2 lemon
- Pinch salt
- 1 can banana blossom
- 4 salad tomatoes
- 1 green chili, finely chopped
- 100g green beans
- 1/4 cup roasted peanuts (unsalted)
Coriander chutney:
- 1/2 cup coriander (leaves and stems)
- Handful mint leaves
- 1 inch piece ginger
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 green chili
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- Pinch chaat masala
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 tsp black salt (or 1/4 tsp extra regular salt)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup vegan yogurt
- Coriander leaves
- Sprinkle of chaat masala
Method
- Mix together the olive oil, chaat masala, ginger, garlic, sugar, lemon juice, chili and salt in a bowl.
- Then drain the banana blossom and pull into strips, dice the tomatoes, add to the bowl and mix together.
- Bring a small pan of salted water to the boil. Remove the stems of the green beans and slice into 3-4cm pieces. Boil for 2-3 minutes until tender, then drain and add the cooked beans to the bowl with the banana blossom and tomatoes and mix together, along with the peanuts.
- To make the coriander chutney add all the ingredients from coriander to the salt to the blender or food processor and blitz until desired consistency.
- To serve up your salad, transfer the salad to a platter, drizzle over the coriander chutney, top with a few dollops of vegan yogurt, coriander leaves and a small sprinkle of chaat masala and enjoy!
