I love this salad when just made. Bryan likes to leave it for an hour or so to let the red chillies do their work and impregnate the mild tasting cucumbers. Either way it's a fresh and zingy salad served on it's own or as a side dish. It is from Ottolenghi the Cookbook .
CUCUMBER AND POPPY SEED SALAD
- Ingredients
- 6 small cucumbers ( I use Lebanese cucumbers)
- 2 mild red chillies, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons roughly chopped coriander
- 60 ml white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
- 125 ml sunflower oil
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar
- salt and black pepper.
- Instructions
- Prepare the cucumbers by removing the ends then slice cucumbers at an angle. Pieces should be 1 cm thick and 3-4 cms long. I always remove the watery core also.
- Mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl. Use your hands to to massage the flavours gently into the cucumbers.
- Taste and adjust the amount of sugar and salt. The taste should be sharp and sweet, almost like a pickle.
- If not serving immediately you may need to drain of some liquid off later. Adjust seasonings again if needed.
