Seasonal local food recipe No 177: Spicy Moroccan carrot salad
Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe incorporates sweet spices, fresh herbs and a lemony kick. Serve with other Middle Eastern salads, or just to accompany fried fish. You could serve it warm as well as cold, with a pilaf.
Serves 4
Preparation and cooking 30 mins + cooling time
Ingredients
1kg carrots
80ml olive oil, plus extra to finish
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tsp caster sugar
3 garlic cloves crushed
2 medium green chillies, finely chopped
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp chopped preserved lemon skin
40g chopped coriander, plus extra to garnish
120ml Greek yoghurt, chilled
salt
Method
Peel the carrots and cut them, depending on their size, into cylinders or semi-circles 1cm thick; all the pieces should end up roughly the same size. Place in a large saucepan and cover with salted water. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or until tender but still crunchy. Drain and leave to dry out.
Heat the oil in a large pan and saute the onion for 12 minutes on a medium heat until soft and slightly brown. Add the cooked carrots to the onions, followed by all the remaining ingredients, apart from the fresh coriander and the yoghurt. Remove from the heat. Season liberally with salt, stir well and leave to cool.
Before serving, stir in the coriander, taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve in individual bowls with a dollop of yoghurt, a drizzle of oil and garnished with the extra coriander.
