Grated carrot in a white bowl on top of a stack of four white plates

Belarussian Carrot Salad

Serves 4-6

Vegetarian

This recipe is from Delia's Vegetarian Collection.

On a recent trip, I was privileged to be invited to a very special family meal in Minsk prepared by Sasha Shevchuk and her mother, Irina.

Irina gave me her recipe for this simple, but oh-so-good carrot salad, which is perfect for winter when other salad ingredients are not at their best.

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Method

First of all, grate the carrots, using the fine grater blade on your food processor (or grate by hand).

After that, transfer them to a bowl, pour over the vinegar and salt and mix to make sure everything is well coated. Cover and leave for at least 3 hours, or preferably, overnight in the fridge. If the carrots are very fresh, they develop too much juice, which should then be poured away.

Next, you need to dry-roast the coriander seeds. To do this, place them in a small frying pan over a medium heat and stir and toss them around for 1-2 minutes or until they begin to look toasted and start to jump in the pan. Now transfer them to a pestle and mortar and crush them lightly.

After that, heat the oil in the frying pan. Add the onion and fry until golden. Allow to cool a little, then drain the oil through a sieve on to the carrots and discard the onion, which was there just to give some flavour. Now add the coriander seeds to the carrots along with the garlic and a pinch of cayenne pepper, and give everything a good stir. Covered, the salad will keep for a couple of days in the fridge.