Mango Chaat Masala Salad

Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients, you can pretty much leave out anything you don’t have in the spice mix (amchur is integral though). Splash out on a Pakistani or Indian mango and you’ll definitely not regret it, but any decent ripe-ish one will do since it’s being tossed in lemon juice and spices anyway. Pineapple would be a great stand-in, too. This recipe gives you a small jar of spice mix, so make it once, and reap the benefits for several other salads. 

Eat with grilled meat, or you can make this more substantial by drizzling over loosened yoghurt and tamarind chutney, (or something similarly sweet and tangy) and sprinkling with sev.

As featured IN OFM.

ingredients

serves 4

• For the salad

  1 x 400g jar or tin of chickpeas, drained and dried with kitchen paper

  2 tbsp olive oil

  ½ red onion, finely chopped

  Juice of 1 large lemon

  1 ripe mango, stone discarded and flesh chopped

  3 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped

  1 celery heart, chopped

  10 radishes, chopped

  1 small bunch of coriander, approx 25g, leaves picked

• Chaat spice mix 

  1 tbsp coriander seeds

  1 heaped tsp fennel seeds

  6 cardamom pods, shells discarded

  1 tsp ground ginger

  1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon

  1 ½ tbsp amchur

  A pinch of asafoetida

  Pinch of chilli powder

  Salt

  Pepper

instructions

Preheat the oven to 220C/ 200C fan/ gas 7. Place the chickpeas ‘naked’ on a greaseproof paper-lined tray in the oven for 12 minutes. Once they look dry and have cracked, drizzle with the olive oil and some salt, give them a jiggle to coat them, and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes. This should produce a wonderfully crisp chickpea, though all ovens vary so keep them in there if they’re not crisp. Alternatively, place in the airfryer at 180C for 15 minutes, toss in oil and return to the airfryer for further 8 minutes

Meanwhile, prepare the spice mix. Grind the coriander, fennel and cardamom seeds together in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder and combine with the powdered spices.

Place the onions in a mixing bowl and squeeze over half the lemon and a pinch of salt. Leave to stand while you chop the rest of the vegetables and fruit. Try to chop everything into similar-sized large chickpea-ish pieces, then add to the bowl.

Add the coriander, crisp chickpeas and 1 tablespoon of the spice mix, the rest of the lemon juice and plenty of seasoning. Toss gently, have a taste and adjust the seasoning before serving. Add a little more lemon juice or spice mix as you wish, you want it to be lightly spiced and very perky.