Chilled Cucumber Boat Salad
The Daughter made another demand — I’m so pleased she has got into cooking! The chef in me feels fulfilled and the mom and me feel happy! 😛
I make this salad very often at home. It needs to be served really really chilled, so it is a good idea to make it a wee bit in advance.
It’s a messy salad though! Be prepared for a white moustache and a few drips down your chin! But it’s worth the dishevelled look you will sport while eating it.
Look for crisp cucumbers with a clean green interior. I always cut off the side of the cucumber and taste it before using it. Sometimes cucumbers can be very very bitter, and even one bitter cucumber in a salad of 20 cucumbers can spoil the entire dish. Taste it and throw it away if its bitter. (You can always chuck it in the compost pile of course!)
The yoghurt should be thick, so hang it for an hour or so if you want. There is zero neatness in this salad, so there really isn’t any right or wrong way to fill it. Slice the spring onions really thin and small. Garlic can be upped as per your taste. To my mind, too much garlic takes away the sweetness of the yoghurt and the original taste of the cucumber.
I add a little of chilli flakes, but you can always add some herbs too – parsley, thyme, oregano. Don’t use very strong herbs. Again – it takes away the original flavours.
The boats can get very wobbly, as the base is rounded. You can slice off a small part of the cucumber from the bottom to make a little steadier base. But – mostly, it will wobble and fall a little to the side, but if the yoghurt is not too drippy things should not slide out and drip into the plate.
I’m attaching a quick video for you.
I hope you enjoy this salad. Do write in.
As always – Cheers! and Happy Times!
- 2 large cucumbers peeled and slit lengthwise
- 1/2 cup hung curd or greek yoghurt
- 1 green oinion finely chopped with greens
- 1 tspn salt
- 1 tbspn garlic coarsely pounded
- 1 tspn Black Pepper
- 1 tspn chilli flakes
- 1 tspn herbs optional.
- 50 grams alfa alfa sprouts soaked in cold water
- Peel and slit the cucumbers lengthwise.
- De seed the inner core using a spoon (see video) Chill in refrigerator till you need to fill it.
- Chop the green onions finely. Use all the whites and some of the greens
- Soak the alfa alfa in iced water, so that it untangles and the sprouts open up. Drain before using.
- In a clean bowl, mix the hung curd or greek yoghurt with all the other ingredients.
- Taking a small spoon, fill the cores of the cucumbers with the filling. A little will drip out. You can either leave it, or wipe it with a clean paper towel.
- Heap the sprouts on the yoghurt mix.
- This salad can be filled in advance, or just before eating. Either way, the filled boat, or the filling and cored cucumber should be in the refrigerator till served.