the praised carrots

I'm not really writing these days, but I thought I'd share a recipe for the yummiest carrot salad I've ever eaten. Seriously, this is NOTHING like the carrot salads you've had before.

For 4 people (or 2 greedy carrot lovers) you'll need:

1 - 1 1/2 pounds carrots (big, fat carrots are better than small and slender ones here)
1 lime
sugar
salt
pepper
brown mustard seeds
cumin (whole)
asafoetida (an Indian spice)
sunflower oil (or other neutral-flavored vegetable oil)
roasted peanuts (salted or unsalted)
fresh cilantro (aka coriander)

Start off by heating about a tablespoon of the oil in a small skillet. Toss in 1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin and a pinch of asafoetida. Heat and stir until the spices begin to crackle. Remove from heat.

While the oil and spices are cooling off, peel your carrots and chop them into very thin slices or use a vegetable grater, mandolin or food processor to achieve a similar result (if you use a cheese grater, the pieces will be too small, but the largest setting on a box grater should be ok). Transfer the carrots to a medium-sized salad bowl.

Squeeze the juice from the lime. You should be able to get about 2 tablespoons. In a small bowl, mix the lime juice with a generous pinch of sugar and a small pinch of salt. Add the cooled-off oil and spices from the skillet and swish it all around. Add this to the carrots and mix to evenly coat the carrots with the liquid. It might seem like there's not enough liquid for the large amount of carrots, but don't worry. Just mix well and it'll be enough.

Now go do something else for half an hour. Work on whatever other dish you're making or take a bath, call your best friend or go walk the dog. Just let the salad sit there. After 30 minutes have passed, get yourself a scant 1/4 cup of peanuts and chop them roughly. While you're at it, take a whack at your fresh cilantro. This is your garnish, but I'm a cilantro fiend so I use several large handfuls rather than the specified smaller amount. Throw the peanuts and cilantro in the salad and salt and pepper to taste (Remember that if your peanuts are already salted, you don't want to add too much to the salad!). Toss the whole thing well and be prepared to fight your family for a coveted second helping!

My source suggests serving this with grilled fish, which I'm sure would be amazing, but I say this salad stands alone and would be perfect with some flat bread and raita!