Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Pineapple and coconut salsa - Indian Inspired

Most times it's easy to plan the main course, but it's hard to plan starters that are delicious and won't fill you up. I love starters and if I had my way, I would skip the main course and survive on starters and desserts.

Spicy, tangy, sweet and flavorful. I love this Indian inspired salsa as a topping for burgers, as a side or on papad.


Pineapple-800PX-SimiJois

PinaappleSalsa-800PX-SimiJois-2016

This post was written under pineapple threat. Literally! A few weeks months back I had a friend of mine over for lunch and I made this salsa and served it with papad - my friend loved it. Few weeks down the line I get a call from her,  she complaint that she spent an hour on the blog and did not find it, "what category have you put it in". It's not on the blog was my prompt reply, I gave her the recipe and she asked me to blog it (she did not want to write down the recipe - my case that she's lazy). Last week she came and gifted me a pineapple and told me to "blog it".

She also called me lazy and stuck up, as I thought this was a silly recipe to post....well, we will discuss the lazy & stuck up part in another post. For now here is a way to earn a pineapple.

This is  a great starter to serve for parties and I have seen it often becomes a topic of discussion. It's tastier with tinned pineapple, but when you have fresh - I love to use fresh.

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1 pineapple or 2 cups of tinned pineapple chuncks
handful pomegranate or red bell pepper
1/4 cup fresh coconut
1-2 green chillies
1 tsp mustard seeds
4-5 cilantro leaves
2-3 tbsp honey
1/4 cup and more of diced nuts (walnuts, almonds and pistachio)
pink himalayan salt to taste

The original recipe has pomegranate and it looks gorgeous with pomegranate. Since I was working under  pineapple pressure- I had no time to get pomegranate and went ahead without it. I do feel sad ...it looks so much prettier with pomegranate.

Dry grind the coconut, green chillies and mustard seeds. It should not have any water - I used my dry grinder (vitamix) to make it. You can use a spice grinder.

Cut pineapple chunks, pat try with paper towel. Incorporate the coconut mix, pomegranate, honey, chopped nuts and salt and toss.

Serve as a topping for papapd .

Add more honey if the pineapple is bland.

For later use

Do NOT mix the coconut and pineapple as it will leave water and you do want the salsa dry - moist is fine but not watery. I store the pineapple and pomegranate separately, nuts separately and coconut mix separate. Toss them together when am ready to serve. Add salt LAST. Can't stress this enough.


You can use it for...
This is a great topping for burgers or to serve as a raita - add yogurt to the mix - or just as a side without the yogurt.

Note : use yogurt only if you are using tinned pineapple, sometimes you get a bitter after taste when using yogurt with fresh pineapples.

What is Papad ?

Papad is a thin wafer - usually round in shape,  which is made from lentil and rice and sun-dried for weeks. It can be stored for 4-6 months and is usually eaten deep fried or roasted.

PineapplePrepShot-800PX-SimiJois-2016

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9 comments:

  1. What a yummy way to use pineapple. Love the Indian touch for the salad. Amazing clicks!!
    We love fresh pineapple and after enjoying it as is usually end up with a little bit left and this salsa is a great use for it.

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  2. Gorgeous Background! Is it paper?
    And yes you're back in action - that's how I love your posts :)) I am on a paleo kinda diet and I need different salsa recipes - I will make a big batch of this in coming weeks and will link to your blog :)

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    Replies
    1. Yes that's paper !!!

      Let me know how you like it :)

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  3. oh yes, loved the photo of honey!

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  4. Amazing salsa recipe.a year back I made salsa and had it with papad.now you are tempting me to make it again.lovely clicks

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  5. Totally indian! Loved the idea and all the detailed tips... Nice to see a post about food...😉

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  6. Beautiful presentation! love the clicks of course the recipe too

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  7. Starters and desserts -- that's what I do when I can get away with it! I'm so glad someone else shares this opinion. I love this recipe and I want to try it soon, but fresh coconut is not so easy to find in the US. Can I use desiccated coconut?

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  8. What a innovative recipe, love the flavours here. Will definitely try this out and tell you. I don't have any words to describe your photography. It's gorgeous as always

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Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to browse. I appreciate all your comments, feedback and input. Hope you enjoy your stay :))

hugs!
simi

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