Herbed Lentil Salad with Chaat Vinaigrette
A delicious lentil salad packed with nutritious lentils, herbs, veggies and paired with a piquant cumin scented vinaigrette that reminds you of the Indian street chaat.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups French Puy lentils, uncooked
- water for cooking
- 1 red bell pepper or other color of your choice chopped
- 1 medium red onion finely chopped
- 2 Persian cucumbers chopped
- 2 cups packed mixed herbs (cilantro, mint, parsley and dill) finely chopped
- 1 hot green chilli like Thai or serrano skip if milder salad is preferred
Chaat Vinaigrette
- 3-4 tbsp e.v.olive oil
- ¼ cup lime or lemon juice
- 1 tsp chaat masala **see notes for substitutes
- ½ tsp ground cumin roasted preferably
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp grated ginger
- sea salt as needed
Instructions
- Rinse the lentils and add them to a medium sized saucepan. Cover with water a little higher than the lentils and bring to boil.
- Reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until al dente, not mushy. This may take longer according to the age of the lentils, so keep checking.
- Drain completely. Allow it cool to room temperature.
- While the lentils cook, chop the veggies and herbs.
- Whisk all the ingredients for the vinaigrette. In a bowl mix the lentils with the chopped veggies. Pour the vinaigrette and mix well gently. Allow the salad to sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes before eating. Mix the herbs, taste and add any seasoning as needed.
- Garnish with cracked pepper and lemon juice for extra kick.
Notes
If Chaat masala is hard to find, replace it with 1 tablespoon lemon juice+ ¼ tsp ground cumin +¼ tsp black pepper.
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