In between rapid bouts of Sourdough, discoveries of new fruits and the frequent home delivery restaurant review, I occasionally also manage to make time for simple recipes which I then take ages to post because the queue is long and more important sounding recipes are trying to get priority 😀

However, a couple of clever salads are trying to slip past to the top of the line and make themselves seen on the blog. The first one to succeed is my Pomelo salad which is so easy and yet rather unusual and if you wait and watch patiently, you will see why. You can also cheat and google Veppilai katti 😀

The Pomelo – 

The pomelo or Citrus Maxima as it is botanically known, is the largest among its citrus cousins (as the maxima suggests), of the family Rutaceae.

I will request you to take a look at the previous post on the Pomelo in case you wish to know more about the fruit.

How to eat a Pomelo –

Pomelos are processed like most other citrus fruits by peeling off the thick outer skin and pith, extracting the juicy vesicles from the carpels, discarding the inner pith and then eating the flesh directly or adding it in various preparations right from salads, juices, desserts, pickles etc.

Pomelo salad –

Pomelos add a nice tang and texture to salads, whether they are the main stars of the show or even when they are used as minor ingredients. Their distinctive taste enhances the flavors and their nutritional benefits make them quite sought after by health conscious people.

Salad recipes are usually only limited by our imagination, especially the ones that we totally make up and this one below is literally the fruit of my fantasy 😀

Recipe for Pomelo salad –

‘Recipe’ is a fancy word for this concoction which is so super easy, that even a child can put it together.

I have eaten pomelo salads in Asian restaurants and the usage of roasted peanuts, chillies and other tongue tingling components, have always made this my unfailing and constant choice.

My family members are ‘peanut monsters’ and nearly every dish has to feature this humble nut. So when I put together this salad, it was a no brainer that peanuts would feature in it.

I have attempted to combine the Asian flavors with a South Indian twist and the cuisines being rather similar on certain levels, I have successfully achieved a dressing that was quite a hit among family as well as neighbors, the long suffering guinea pigs of my experiments 😀

My secret ingredient here is the Vepalaikatti. This is a concoction which is like a dry pickle that is oil free and is made by jamming together ingredients like tender lime leaves, chillies, ajwain, curry leaves, tamarind, asafoetida etc.

The resultant mix is rolled into small lime sized balls and bits of these are pinched off and had as an accompaniment to curd rice etc.

I had some veppilai katti lolling in the fridge for ages, so I put it to good use as a dressing and it really kicked up the flavors by several notches 😀

Time taken – 

Time for cleaning the pomelo – depends on how fast you are 😎

Time for the actual recipe – Just a few minutes to toss everything together

Ingredients –

Please note that you can totally vary the ingredients and quantities. Listed here, is what I have used.

Pomelo flesh – 1 cup

Roasted and skinned peanuts – 2 tablespoon

Fresh red chillies – 2

Curry leaves – 5

Honey – 2 teaspoon

Black til (sesame) – 1 teaspoon

Veppilai katti – a pinch

Sea Salt – to taste (or any salt)

Method – 

Finely chop the red chillies and curry leaves.

Toast the black til or leave it untoasted.

Just before serving, place all the ingredients in a bowl and toss together.

Serve chilled.

You can store the leftovers in the fridge for a couple of days but there will probably be a release of water from the pomelo.

Notes – 

As mentioned, all the ingredients and quantities are totally alterable as per your preference.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this post and I would really appreciate if you leave your feedback in the Blog comments.

For more pictures see My Facebook – Pomelo Salad

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