French beans Salad

French Beans Salad is a crunchy Indian side dish or Koshimbir which I have learned from my dad. Its a healthy dish,easy to cook and low in calories.

French Beans are also known as green beans, snap beans, string beans and are elongated,flexible and firm edible pods.They are full with manganese,vitamin K and vitamin C providing loads of fibres.

As a kid I hated french beans but this salad is so light,fresh and tasty that whoever hates beans will start loving them again after this recipe. Do try it soon

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Raw ingredients

• 250 grams french beans( about 25 to 30 beans or four handfuls )
• 1 medium cup peanuts or groundnuts( roasted and grounded)
• 1 small cup grated coconut
• 3 teaspoon lime juice
• 1-2 table spoon green chilly paste
• 2 table spoons of coriander or cilantro
• Salt
• Sugar

Ingredients for tempering

• Vegetable Oil or Olive oil (for low fat food)
• Mustard seeds
• Cumin seeds
• Turmeric(optional,if used gives a nice golden colour to the salad)

Method

• Wash the french beans,stalk the ends and peel off the thread like skin at the sides.Cut in to small small ring like pieces.(you can also cut them in a inch length size if you love it that way)
• Bring a pot of water to fast boil and add these cut beans in it and cover it with lid for 4-5 mins. After 5 mins, just check on the beans if they are half cooked.We want the beans to be al dente (which means we want to keep the crunchiness of the beans intact and not over cook them till they are slushy and sloppy).
• After another 4-5 mins the beans will slightly change the colour and this is the time when we want to turn off the heat.
• Turn off the heat and strain them while adding cold running water on them.This is to stop their cooking then and there.
• Now take a big bowl and add these blanched french beans in it.
• Sprinkle the grounded peanut mixture on the top.
• Add entire small bowl of fresh grated coconut mix in to it.
• Now add the green chilli paste according to the hotness you want in the dish. 1-2 tablespoons is enough for the said quantity.
• Season it with 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of sugar.
• Add 3 table spoons of lime juice to the mixture.
• Mix well and keep aside

Method for Tempering or Phodni

• Heat a small pan and add 2-3 spoons of vegetable oil to it.
• Once the oil is heated add the mustard and cumin seeds to it.(mustard seeds will splatter and make a sizzling sound)
• Now add turmeric and just slightly mix it together with the oil and other ingredients
• Now when this is hot, pour these tempering on to the salad which is resting in another bowl and mix everything together.
• Garnish with freshly cut coriander and lemon wedges.
• Crunchy French beans salad is ready.This salad tastes best at room temperature.

Variations:

1. You can add this as a topping to your baguette bread or any toast bread
2. Grated or juvenile cut carrots go well in this salad too.
3. You can also add red chillies or red paprika or red chilli powder instead of green chillies
4. Instead of grounded peanuts whole peanuts can also be added for more crunchy texture.