I learned to make this salad during my time in Glasgow. I ate it many times then and was pleasantly surprised that when I made it recently, it still tasted as good as I remembered it. Or maybe even better…
This is originally another dish from my favorite chef Meera Sodha. The only adjustments I have made are the preparation method and the step-by-step plan.
I can also really recommend using paneer in this dish because the way it is prepared is amazing. But if you really don’t like paneer, you can also use halloumi as a substitute.
Mango salad with paneer
15 minutes preparation + 15 minutes cooking — serves 2 to 3
Ingredients
- 3 sjallots
- 450 grams of hard paneer
- 2 mangoes
- 150 grams mixed salad
- 2 teaspoons tamarind paste
- 15 grams of fresh mint
- 20 grams fresh coriander
- 1 finger chili
- 2cm fresh ginger
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt
- Oil
- Optional: fresh naan bread with garlic and coriander
Preparation
- Peel the sjallots and cut them in half lengthwise. Then cut them into thin slices.
- Cut the paneer into 1.5cm cubes.
- Roughly chop the mint and coriander.
- Cut the finger chili into small pieces.
- Grate the fresh ginger (or slice thinly).
- Peel the mango with a vegetable peeler. Separate the fruit from the pit by cutting the two sides of the mango, as close to the pit as possible. Cut the remaining fruit from the side of the pit. Then cut all the mango fruit into wedges of about 1 cm thick.
Preparing the paneer and salad dressing
- Heat some oil in a pan and add the sjallots. Fry for c. 5 minutes until the onion is soft.
- Add the paneer and cook for another 8-10 minutes until the paneer is nicely browned and crispy on all sides. Turn the paneer every minute so that each side browns evenly.
- Add the tamarind paste and half a teaspoon of salt to the paneer and shallots. Heat for another minute before removing the pan from the heat. Keep separate.
- Mix the chili pepper and ginger to create a paste.
- Mix the lemon juice, honey, 0.25 teaspoon salt and olive oil with the ginger paste. Taste and add some extra lemon juice if the ginger tastes too strong.
Bringing it all together
- Mix the mango with the salad leaves, mint and coriander in a large salad bowl.
- Add the paneer mix and dressing to the mango salad just before serving.
- Serve with the fresh naan bread.
Enjoy your meal!
Did you like this?
Leave a comment below if you made this recipe, and let me know what you think. Tips and feedback to improve the recipe are always welcome too!