An Indian salad as a winter salad option? Yes!!!!
Sometimes, creativity in the kitchen starts with shopping! And shopping at an international market is like an artist picking colors for her painting. I was at the market this morning and there was a pile of purple yams. It caught my attention right away and reminded me of a Gujurati snack called Kand Puri. It’s like a purple root sandwich with a flavorful filling, steamed and eaten hot.
I had planned to make a beet & sweet potato Indian salad bowl. And when I saw those purple yams, the two thoughts met up in my mind and they were so happy to find each other. And so, Kand Puri Salad came to be!
Jump to Recipe
As soon as I got home, I started putting this Indian salad together. I wanted a winter salad and desi food at the same time. And when creativity flows like this, I incorporate ayurveda & eating the rainbow wherever I can. After all, eat like a yogi!
The makings of this tasty wonder…
So what does this indian salad / kand puri salad have? First, it doesn’t have a salad dressing. I know. New to me too.
It has a wet-ish indian spice mix. Sesame seeds, coconut, peanuts, cumin, coriander, cilantro, ginger, green chilis, and turmeric. Every one of these is a healing food in some regard. And thumbs up an ayurveda food. As a winter salad, it’s a winner with just this mix. Ginger for immunity, sesame seeds for warmth, turmeric as anti-inflammatory. And if you understand ayurveda food, it has the two C’s in CCF tea! Cumin and Coriander.
I always like to mix cooked veggies into a winter salad. This makes it easier on our digestion in the winter. But I don’t cook everything, it is a salad after all.
So, there are 3 main parts to this Indian salad that you will mix all together when serving. There’s always room for some creative extras on the top. I’ve listed mine below, you can add anything from croutons to chia seeds. It’ll all work.
And don’t worry too much if you can’t find a purple yam. Just leave it out, add more beets or sweet potato or some other root.
Add the spice mix in like you add in salad dressing. Try some, then add more until it works for you. You can save the leftovers of this salad in the refrigerator and it says good for a few days.
Indian Salad with Roots – Beets, Yams, Sweet Potato – Kand Puri Salad
Ingredients
Raw Veggies
- 2 cups chopped spinach
- 1 cup shredded carrots
Roasted Veggies
- 1 beet diced & lathered in olive oil and salt
- 1 purple yam diced & lathered in olive oil and salt
- 1 sweet potato diced & lathered in olive oil and salt
Spice Mix (Dry Dressing)
- 1/2 cup dry coconut powder
- 1/2 cup crushed raw or roasted peanuts
- 1 cups chopped cilantro
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 1.5 tbsp cumin powder
- 1.5 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp green chilis (finely chopped or crushed)
- 2 tsp ginger paste
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp olive oil
Toppings and Extras
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
- 1/4 cup black beans (cooked)
- 2 tbsp hemp seeds
Instructions
- Cube, lather in olive oil, sprinkle salt and roast the beets, purple yam, sweet potatoes together on a pan for 15 minutes at 400F
- Mix all of the spices in a bowl, then saute them on medium/low for 10 minutes
- Combine the raw veggies, roasted veggies, spices, toppings
Don’t forget to share a blessing and enjoy this yummy salad all year round! Beets, sweet potato, and all the indian spices are beneficial for all of us all year round. They just add more of what we need in our bodies in the winter. Here’s to eating consciously!
Editting note: I searched a bit to find a recipe for the actual Kand Puri that this recipe is adapted from. Apparently, its not even called Kand Puri everywhere. Here’s the closest thing I found for Kand Puri. Basically, you can use the same spice mixture above and spread it between two slices of purple yam (ratalu) or any root vegetable and steam these sandwiches for 10-15 minutes until the root is thoroughly cooked.
Salad is very healthy, appetizing and filling.