Peanut Salad (Indian Style)
Peanut Salad (also called Peanut Chaat) is a tasty Indian style salad made with roasted peanuts (groundnuts).
Servings: 3
Ingredients
- 1 cup roasted peanuts (lightly salted)
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- ½ cup finely diced bell pepper optional
- 1 large tomato, finely chopped
- finely chopped jalapeno or few pickled jalapeno slices to taste
- 1 teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder or to taste
- 1 ½ teaspoon chaat masala
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds
- ¼ cup coriander leaves, finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon black salt (kala namak)
- salt to taste
- half of lemon
Instructions
- If you do not like the raw flavor of onion like I do, marinate the onion to remove the pungent smell. Finely chop a small red onion and add it to a bowl. Squeeze 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and add some water. Mix it with hands and let the onions soak for 15 minutes while you prep the other ingredients.
- Chop the tomato, green chili and coriander leaves.
- I used store bought roasted peanuts (lightly salted). If roasting at home, heat a wide pan and dry roast the peanuts in low-medium flame for few minutes. Let cool and rub the peanuts between your hands to remove the skin.
- When you are ready to make the salad, drain out all the water from the onions.
- To a large bowl add one cup of roasted peanuts, one large finely chopped tomato, one small finely chopped onion, ¼th cup chopped coriander leaves, finely diced jalapeno, one teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder, 1.5 teaspoons chaat masala, black salt, salt and lemon juice to taste.
- Gently toss all the ingredients, taste and adjust salt and lemon juice.
- Add half cup pomegranate seeds and mix it again. Let rest for 5-10 minutes and serve.
Notes
As I served this salad to kids, I used jarred pickled jalapeno slices, as they are marinated and not very hot.
If using green chili, to make it less spicy remove the seeds or squeeze in some lemon juice to cut down the heat.
While this salad tastes best when freshly made, I have stored the left overs in the refrigerator and enjoyed it the next day. The peanuts can get slightly soft but still good.