Name: Cucumber Salad with Hot Spiced Mustard Dressing
Yield: Serves 3 to 4
Cuisine: Nepal
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon sesame seeds; 1½ teaspoons mustard oil; 2 tablespoons plain (full- or reduced-fat) yogurt or water; ¼ teaspoon cayenne; ½ pound cucumbers, preferably a small English cucumber, peeled; ½ teaspoon cumin seeds; 1 green cayenne chile, slit lengthwise and seeded; ⅛ teaspoon turmeric; 2 to 3 tablespoons minced coriander leaves; ⅛ teaspoon fenugreek seeds; ⅛ teaspoon nigella seeds; Kosher salt; 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preparation info

Serves
3 to 4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Mangoes & Curry Leaves

By Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid

Published 2005

About

This fresh salad, a cousin of Nepali Green Bean—Sesame Salad, has a semi-cooked dressing: The cucumber sticks are rubbed with a spice paste of yogurt, sesame, and cumin, then dressed with hot spice-infused mustard oil and fresh lemon juice.

As with many dishes from Nepal, traditionally a flavoring called timbur seed is used to give a tart edge, but it’s not yet available in North America. We have tried substituting ground anardana (dr