Carrot & Rice Salad

This salad is my partner, James's, creation. He was inspired by this simple Gujerati Carrot Salad.

This salad is lovely as an accompaniment to Indian and non-Indian food. The carrot gives the salad a gorgeous yellow and orange colour, with contrasting black speckle from the mustard seeds. The popped mustard seeds add a wonderfully nutty flavour and enticing aromatic scent to the salad.

In my opinion, the salad is a healthier option to plain rice. You have less rice (less carbohydrate) as the carrot acts as a filler. I think children may like the salad as it is brightly coloured.

Note: The rice for the recipe has to at cool or room temperature. So it is best to cook the rice earlier and let it cool to room temperature. Cooling time is about 2 hours or overnight.

Ingredients

Serves :8
(Vegetarian, Vegan Recipe, Gluten Free)

300-350g carrot - abt 4 medium sized carrot
1 cup (200ml) uncooked rice
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
½ red chilli - sliced - optional


Preparation

1. Rice: Cook the rice with 2 cups of water. Use a fork to fluff up the rice. Let it cool down to room temperature, about 2 hours or overnight.
2. Carrot: Using a large hole grater, grate all the carrots.

Cooking

1. Carrot: Heat a large non-stick saucepan or a frying pan on low flame. Add the grated carrots and cook it slowly until it is soft, stirring occasionally. If using red chilies, add the sliced chilies half way through. This takes about 20 minutes.  
2. Mustard Seeds: Heat the vegetable oil in a small pan until it is really hot. Add the mustard seeds and cook until the seeds pop. It is important that the seeds pop to release their nutty flavour.
3. Transfer the carrot, rice and popped mustard seeds into a large bowl and mix well. Mix in the salt and lemon juice as well.

The salad can be served at room temperature or cold.