Here is the cucumber and peanut salad recipe which I mentioned on another thread yesterday.  It is from Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking, which I really enjoy.  



I changed it a little to suit my tastes - I made a note at the bottom.  I roasted my own peanuts (I keep raw ones in the house) and then ground them in my food processor, but it could be done in a mortar and pestle.  They don't become a fine powder when done this way, as they are still oily.  I have been told by a Maharashtrian friend that this is just fine.  I also used a hothouse cucumber (instead of the standard variety) which are often called "English Cucumbers" here in the US... what do you call them?  



Anyway, it's a great salad, refreshing and full of flavor.  Enjoy!



Judy B - Rochester, NY, US



Khamang Kakdi - Cucumber and Peanut Salad - Maharashtrian Style

 

Serves 6

 

3 large cucumbers

1/3 cup roasted peanuts (salted or unsalted is fine), ground to a fine powder

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves (optional)

2 teaspoons sugar

Juice of one small lemon

 

For the spice-perfumed butter

 

2 tablespoons usli ghee or light vegetable oil

¾ teaspoon black mustard seeds

¾ teaspoon cumin seeds

¼ teaspoon ground asafetida

1/8 teaspoon turmeric

8 hot green chilies, shredded

Coarse salt to taste

 

Peel the cucumbers and cut them in half.  Using a spoon, scrape out the seeds.  Grated the cucumbers, using a coarse blade of a grater of food processor.  Put the cucumber in a colander and squeeze hard to extract any excess water, and put it into a bowl.  Add the next five ingredients (four if you don't use the mint!) and toss well.

 

Heat the usli ghee or vegetable oil in a small frying pan over high heat.  When it is very hot, add the mustard seeds.  Keep a pot lid handy, as the seeds may spatter and fly all over.  As the seeds are spattering, add the cumin and continue cooking until mixture turns several shades darker (about 15 - 20 seconds).  Add the asafetida, turmeric, and chilies, shake the pan for a few seconds, and pour the entire contents of the pan over the cucumber mixture.  Add salt to taste, and toss well to coat the cucumber mixture with spices.

 

Serve immediately.  If you do not plan to serve immediately, do not add the peanuts, sugar, or salt until serving time.

 

Judy's notes:  I did not peel or scrape the cucumbers, as I used the long hothouse kind.  I chopped the cucumber instead of grating it, which is simply my preference.  Since I used the longer cucumber, I used one of these instead of three standard cucumbers, and thought the balance was really good.

"Judy Bolton"  of Road Runner High Speed Online
http://www.rr.com wrote:
>Here is the cucumber and peanut salad recipe which I mentioned on another thread yesterday.  It is from Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking, which I really enjoy.  
What do you think of the book?  I'm always in the market for a good Indian
vegetarian cookbook, regardless of how many I already own.  I see it is
published in US, so does this mean it uses cup measures?  And what is the
paper quality like - some US paperbacks have horrible rough yellow paper.
--
Save the earth. It's the only planet with chocolate.
Steph Peters, Manchester, England
email: delete invalid from eat@sandbenders.demon.co.uk.invalid

Steph  wrote  on Sun, 16 Sep 2007 18:26:09 +0100:

 SP> "Judy Bolton"  of Road Runner
 SP> High Speed Online http://www.rr.com wrote:
 ??>> Here is the cucumber and peanut salad recipe which I
 ??>> mentioned on another thread yesterday.  It is from Julie
 ??>> Sahni's Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking, which
 ??>> I really enjoy.
 SP> What do you think of the book?  I'm always in the market
 SP> for a good Indian vegetarian cookbook, regardless of how
 SP> many I already own.  I see it is published in US, so does
 SP> this mean it uses cup measures?  And what is the paper
 SP> quality like - some US paperbacks have horrible rough
 SP> yellow paper. --

I'm not really answering the question addressed to Judy but I'd 
like to mention that Julie Sahni's "Classic Indian Cooking" is 
my favorite Indian cookbook. The edition I have was published by 
William Morrow of New York in 1980. The paper has lasted well 
but the book does follow US custom and use volume measure: cups 
etc.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations: 
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

"Steph Peters" <ufdfrom2@sandbenders.demon.co.uk.invalid> wrote in message 
news:1dpqe3dosj7sbomneq5b7vjbhi4tbsrl15@4ax.com...
> "Judy Bolton"  of Road Runner High Speed Online
> http://www.rr.com wrote:
>>Here is the cucumber and peanut salad recipe which I mentioned on another 
>>thread yesterday.  It is from Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Vegetarian and 
>>Grain Cooking, which I really enjoy.
> What do you think of the book?  I'm always in the market for a good Indian
> vegetarian cookbook, regardless of how many I already own.  I see it is
> published in US, so does this mean it uses cup measures?  And what is the
> paper quality like - some US paperbacks have horrible rough yellow paper.
> --
> Save the earth. It's the only planet with chocolate.
> Steph Peters, Manchester, England
> email: delete invalid from eat@sandbenders.demon.co.uk.invalid

Hi Steph,

I really like this cookbook, which happens to be a good quality hardback 
book.  I am not sure I have ever seen it in paperback (I have had this one 
for some time, so maybe it's out and I just don't know it since I am not 
looking for it).  My copy is certainly for the US cook (which is good for 
me), since it only has "our" measurements.  Maybe it's been released with 
metric somewhere; I'd be surprised if it hadn't been.

It has great recipes, and tries to cover most of the regions of India and 
doesn't skimp on the information about ingredients.  She describes the 
methods and processes very well, IMO, and most importantly the food tastes 
great!  Hope this helps.

I saw James' post saying he liked her Classic Indian Cooking, and I agree 
with him - great book!  Truly, I have never met with a Julie Sahni book or 
recipe I didn't like.  Her books are very user-friendly like, IMO, Madhur 
Jaffrey's books are.

Judy B - Rochester, NY, US

"Judy Bolton"  of Road Runner High Speed Online
http://www.rr.com wrote:
>I really like this cookbook, which happens to be a good quality hardback 
>book.  I am not sure I have ever seen it in paperback (I have had this one 
>for some time, so maybe it's out and I just don't know it since I am not 
>looking for it).  My copy is certainly for the US cook (which is good for 
>me), since it only has "our" measurements.  Maybe it's been released with 
>metric somewhere; I'd be surprised if it hadn't been.
I wasn't implying it was a paperback, I had no idea.  
>
>It has great recipes, and tries to cover most of the regions of India and 
>doesn't skimp on the information about ingredients.  She describes the 
>methods and processes very well, IMO, and most importantly the food tastes 
>great!  Hope this helps.
In between asking the question and reading your reply I did a search on
Amazon UK and found a seller with this in stock, in the town where my
husband works.  He was deputed to go along and take a look.  He found a
hardback in excellent condition.  His test of 5 random recipes turned up one
I wouldn't like (had aubergine in), one very similar to a recipe we already
have, and three that looked interesting and new.  As it was only GBP8 he
bought it.  It has US measurements, but I'll cope.

>I saw James' post saying he liked her Classic Indian Cooking, and I agree 
>with him - great book!  Truly, I have never met with a Julie Sahni book or 
>recipe I didn't like.  Her books are very user-friendly like, IMO, Madhur 
>Jaffrey's books are.
Well I have at least 4 Madhur Jaffrey books, so that sounds good.  Dinner
tonight will be from Madhur Jaffrey, Black-Eyed Beans with Mushrooms.
--
Save the earth. It's the only planet with chocolate.
Steph Peters, Manchester, England
email: delete invalid from eat@sandbenders.demon.co.uk.invalid