Potato Samoosa influenced Salad

Serves 4

1 kg medium potatoes

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup cooked chickpeas

1 small red onion, finely diced

1 cup roughly chopped coriander

½ cup snipped mint (optional)

½ cup toasted almonds or cashews (optional)

Curry Dressing

¼ cup vegetable oil

10 curry leaves

1 ½ Tbsp curry powder

Small pinch of chili flakes

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1/3 cup lime juice

½ tsp salt

Topping

4 Poppadoms, broken into 5 or 6 shards each

½ cup toasted coconut flakes

1 Tbsp garam masala or chaat masala

Serve with:

Dhanya Tomato salad, Chutney

Chicken or Fish dishes

Boil the potatoes in a generous pot of well salted water (2 Tbsps at least) for 20 – 30 minutes until tender. Drain. When cool enough to handle, use your fingers to gently break the potatoes into 3 to 4 bite-sized chunks each. Add these rough chunks to a large mixing bowl and set aside while you put together the dressing.

Pour boiling water over the peas to have then thaw. About 3 minutes.

To make the dressing: Heat the oil in a medium saucepan set over medium heat and fry the leaves for a minute or until just crisp. Quickly add the curry powder and spices and stir to combine, cooking gently for another minute.  Turn off the heat and whisk in the lime juice and salt.

Add the chickpeas to the potatoes in the mixing bowl. Pour the hot dressing over the vegetables in the bowl together with some extra salt to taste. Gently toss the dressing through the potatoes and chickpeas til all are coated in the spices oil and curry leaves.

Lay out the potatoes on a serving platter. Sprinkle over the remaining ingredients in layers – the red onion, coriander, mint and nuts. Finish the salad by spear-tucking in the poppadom shards and sprinkling with the garam masala.