Kha Yan Chin Tee Tote - Tomato Salad

 Salads are one of the easiest dishes to make in Burmese Cuisine if you need the ingredients. Today I plan to share one of my favourite salads I always eat during my healthy diet. The main ingredient is full of lycopene, a carotenoid that keeps skin smooth. It is also a great antioxidant that can protect you from cardiovascular disease, cancer, muscular degeneration, diabetes, and osteoporosis. Besides, it contains good minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, iron, and potassium which are important for bones and teeth, hair growth, red blood cell production and improving blood pressure and circulation. Moreover, they are amazingly wonderful for beauty. This is nothing secretive ingredients but just a humble tomato.

Before giving you the recipe, you need to know the most important ingredient for Burmese salad. Roasted chickpea powder is very essential for our traditional salad. If you do not use it, it is just a normal salad. Chickpea powder is also called chickpea flour, gram flour or besan flour which can be easily found in Indian, Burmese, or other Asian groceries. Please make sure it is roasted. Raw chickpea flour is used for making tofu and if you use it in your salad, it may cause mild stomach-ache. So, be careful while choosing the right ingredient for your Burmese salad.

Recipes and ingredients will differ from every household and region that we live in. This recipe is one and only Yumi’s healthy and delicious salad for all of you.

Ingredients (2 Serves)

2 Tomatoes (Thinly Slices)

2 boiled baby Potatoes (Peeled and smashed or cut into smaller cubes)

100g of White or Purple Cabbage (Thinly slices)

85g of Onion (Thinly Slices)

Personally, I don’t like the taste and the smell of raw cabbage and onion. To avoid that, put cabbage and onion slices in one big bowl and submerge in the hot water for 5 mins. Then use a strainer to take all the excess water out.  If you like as it is, that’s amazing.

1 or 2 tbsp of Crushed Roasted Peanuts

1 or 2 tbsp of Roasted Chickpea Powder

Flavoured oil – Garlic, Chilli, Sesame (our preference)

1 Fresh birdseye chilli or Dry Chilli powder (Optional)

¼ tsp of Fish Sauce (optional – remove it for Vegan option)

Fresh Lime Juice (adjustable amount)

Seasoning – Salt, pepper, sugar

Yumi’s Method

Step 1: Put prepared tomato, cabbage, onion, and baby potato into the big, nice mixing bowl.

Step 2: Add 2tb of Crushed roasted peanut and chickpea powder as well as Chilli.

The thick or loosen texture of salad comes from chickpea powder. If the salad is not thick enough, we can add more chickpea powder.

Step 3: Add Flavoured oil. 1 tbsp for your choice. For me, I put 1 tbsp of chilli oil and 1 tbsp of Garlic oil that I made.

If you put more chickpea powder, you will need to add more oil. Less oil and more chickpea powder lead to dry salad. So, you need to adjust it when you are mixing them.

Step 4: Put all the seasoning, ½ tbsp of lime juice, ¼ tsp of fish sauce and start mixing with your hand properly.

Sometimes, I like to add Burmese fried mixed peas and nuts to the salad. It gives a crunchy texture to it. Please taste it after the first mix. The texture of the salad should be a bit thick, not dry. The taste is well-balanced between sour, spicy, and sweet.

Tomato Salad (one Serve)

This is how a tomato salad should look like - with a nice color, good texture, and rich flavor that isn't too dry or oily. It's a well-balanced dish with plenty of ingredients. I personally enjoy eating this salad with steamed rice and a cup of fragrant jasmine tea. You can also replace with other vegetables that you like. For example, I used carrot and bean sprouts instead of cabbage and potato. 

Carrot & Bean Sprouts Salad

 💗💗 Much Love, God Bless You 💗💗