Saliha’s vegetarian iftar recipes – Tadka carrot salad

This Ramadan, Islamic Relief has teamed up with Masterchef winner, Saliha Mahmood Ahmed, to bring you three mouth-watering vegetarian recipes from her award-winning book, Khazana and her upcoming project, Foodology.

Why go vegetarian during Ramadan you may ask?

For millions of Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a time of self-reflection. We try and restore our connection with Allah (SWT) and put a stop to our harmful habits.

But we mustn’t forget that pertains to our relationship with the Earth, too.

During Ramadan, we see an increase in carbon emissions and meat consumption. According to a report by AHDB Beef & Lamb, British Muslims consume more than 20% of all the lamb and mutton produced in the UK.

Eating meat is one of the biggest contributors to climate change. And so, maintaining our current habits is unsustainable.

That’s why, throughout the last three weeks of Ramadan, Saliha will provide Islamic Relief with alternative vegetarian recipes, inspired by our relationship with the earth:

“This Ramadan, I have decided to share three earth-inspired recipes with Islamic Relief to remind us all of the beauty of cooking vegetarian.

The recipes, whether from Khazana or Foodology are not genre specific; rather, they are an amalgamation of the very best of south-east Asia and ancient Persia.”

Enjoy!

Tadka carrot salad

The fondest of childhood memories come from watching my mother cook. She would apply tadka to her lentils; a traditional Mughal technique where spices were tempered in hot oil, transforming into deeper, earthier versions of themselves.

I like to ‘tadka’ raw vegetables. The perfume of spices sizzling in hot oil is completely intoxicating.

Serves: 5 

Ingredients:

500g carrots, peeled and grated

75ml vegetable oil

1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds

1 heaped tablespoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon chilli flakes

½ bunch of fresh coriander, leaves and stalks finely chopped

Juice of 1 large lemon

3 tablespoons honey

Salt, to taste

Instructions:

1. Squeeze out any excess moisture from the grated carrot and put it into a large bowl.
2. Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat until it is very hot but not quite at smoking point. First, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds to the hot oil – they should start sizzling and popping immediately – then add the turmeric and chilli flakes, stirring quickly to prevent the spices from burning.
3. Carefully pour the hot oil onto the grated carrots. Stand back from the pan, as the spices may pop.
4. Add the chopped coriander to the carrots along with lemon juice, honey and plenty of salt. Stir all the ingredients well and serve the salad at room temperature.

We hope you enjoy this delicious recipe. Tweet us your photos and thoughts as @IslamicReliefUK!

Don’t forget to also see what else you can do for the planet this Ramadan by visiting our Eco-Ramadan hub.

Recipe featured in Khazana by Saliha Cooks.