Sunday, July 15, 2007

Broccoli and walnut salad with tadka

Flavorful, healthy, fresh, and simple are some of the qualities I strive for in everyday food, but do not like to sacrifice good taste towards that end. This is one of those dishes that meets these requirements very well and is unbelievably delicious as a bonus. It fits in with any kind of meal, from pairing with a sandwich to being a part of an elaborate Indian meal.

Even though this is a yogurt based dish served at room temperature, I hesitated over calling it a raita since a raita has no tadka, in the strictest sense of the word, and only has one or more ingredients mixed into yogurt that is seasoned with a few dry spices. I learned this from someone I consider very knowledgeable about food, North Indian cuisines being one of her areas of expertise. Calling it a 'salad' is a lot more inclusive, although the approach to putting this dish together is very Indian.

This is not a precise recipe, but more of a guideline.
Steam about a cup or two of broccoli florets for few minutes and then chop it into smaller pieces when cool. Mix it with about as much plain yogurt or dahi by volume. Add a handful of chopped walnuts to it. Season with salt to taste and pinch of sugar. In a small pan, heat a little oil, and to it, add one or two cloves of minced garlic, a crumbled dried red chili, and a pinch of sesame seeds. Take it off the heat when it starts to sizzle, and pour it over the prepared salad. Stir it together gently and serve.

Broccoli and Walnut raita

Broccoli and Walnut Salad with a tadka of red chilies, garlic, and sesame seeds drizzled on top; should be stirred together before eating.

16 comments:

Suganya said...

It is that tadka that takes an ordinary raita to whole new level - a refreshing salad. I will add urad dal for crunch. Great recipe, ET!

FH said...

Broccoli and Walnuts! Sounds great together.Good evolving taste Miss!:))

Padmaja said...

lovely combination, sounds really great, should definitely give it a go

KellytheCulinarian said...

This isn't what I expected to see when I read the salad title, but it looks yummy.

Shah cooks said...

nice variation to a western salad and eastern raita!!

Coffee said...

The tadka is a great addition there ET! I should sure take the salad to the next level! :)

Roopa said...

wow i should try this salad nice one whith brocolli

sra said...

The combination sounded unusual but the picture is so wonderful, can hear the tadka crackling in the pan!

Richa said...

beautiful pic, would like to try this sometime :)

Lata said...

Looks like a delicious raita. Enjoy

HAREKRISHNAJI said...

Tempting

evolvingtastes said...

Thank you all for stopping by with your comments.

Padmaja and Mallugirl, hello and welcome!

Anonymous said...

I love broccoli and this is a new way of serving it. I will definitly try this soon, since I also love raitas of any sort -- I know this is not technically a raita, but you know what I mean!

On my own, I wouldn't have thought of using walnut and garlic in the same dish.

evolvingtastes said...

My Anonymous friend (thanks for letting me know who you were), broccoli, walnuts and garlic is a terrific combination in many forms - try this trio with pasta, works wonderfully.

VV said...

I wasn't aware that raita doesn't usually have tadka! My husband swears that the hing in the tadka is what makes my raita special. I stand corrected now and will refer to it by it's Tamil name "Thayir pachchadi"!

Great recipe. Love Broccoli. Love Walnuts! What a combo.

evolvingtastes said...

VnV, in theory, yes. Thanks, and welcome to my blog.

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