Pomegranate Salad
November 29, 2005
Pomegranates among other fruit
There is something sensual and romantic about the pomegranate.Subject of poetry, remember the part it had to play in the proposal that Elizabeth Barrett made to Robert Browning:
" -some 'Pomegranate', which if cut deep down the middle.
Shows a heart within blood-tinctured, of a veined humanity!" -
a verse to which he promptly responded with an offer of marriage..
It is also such a beautiful fruit.
Botticelli's Madonna
Still lifes would not be the same without it , nor would Botticelli's "Madonna of the Pomegranate", neither the sentimental rendition of Proserpine by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. It was a popular symbol for the resurrection, for wisdom and fertility, for good deeds and prosperity.
Pomegraates are seen in Dara Shikoh' s (son of Shah Jehan the builder of the Taj Mahal) "muraqqa" an album of pictures of birds and fruits , trees, animals and portraits. dating back to 1650.
In two portraits of a prince and his saqi , pomegranates feature quite prominently against the background of a vast desert.
Here pomegranates are redolent of earthly pleasures and require some leisure in which to enjoy them. Almost everyone I know enjoys this pomegranate salad.Fresh, crunchy and a little sweet it tastes as good as it looks.
Pomegranate salad
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of small cauliflower florets
- 1 1/2 cups of chopped cabbage
- 2 cups of chopped cucumber
- 1 cup of chopped simla mirch/capsicum
- 1 cup chopped spring onions with greens
- 1 cup cooked sweet corn
- 1 cup pomegranate seeds
Mix all these vegetables and the pomegranate together in a large salad bowl.
1 1/2 cups Yogurt dressing made from dahi/curds hung in muslin for a few hours to thicken.
Add
- 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp freshly ground mustard seeds
- 1tbsp tomato sauce
Add these last two just before mixing the dressing into the salad, a minute before serving.
- 1 tbsp vinegar. (Reduce if the yogurt is not thick enough.)
- 1 tsp salt.
Tastes out of this world with any crusty bread , broon or pau.