Malaysian-Indian salad (pasembur)

This spicy salad of vegetables, soft tofu and crisp fritters represents one of India’s culinary contributions to Penang’s food scene.

Credit: Steve Brown

• serves

  4-6

• prep

  1 hour

• cook

  50 minutes

• difficulty

  Ace

Ingredients

• 3 waxy potatoes (such as desiree), peeled, halved
• 200 g (2½ cups) bean sprouts
• 1 large yam bean (see Note), peeled, cut into 3cm lengths
• 2 large Lebanese cucumbers, cut into wedges
• 200 g tofu puffs, sliced
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled, cut into quarters lengthwise

Tamarind and sweet potato dressing

• 2 tbsp tamarind pulp (block form)
• 10 dried red chillies
• 300 g sweet potato (kumara), peeled, cut into 2.5cm pieces
• 115 g (¾ cup) roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped, plus extra, to serve
• 2½ tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
• 100 g palm sugar, grated

Prawn fritters

• 150 g (1 cup) plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 400 g green king prawns, peeled, cleaned, chopped
• Vegetable oil, to shallow-fry

Instructions

To make dressing, soak tamarind pulp and 250 ml boiling water in a bowl for 20 minutes or until softened. Stir to break up tamarind, then strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids.

Meanwhile, soften chillies in boiling water in a small bowl for 30 minutes, then drain. Cook sweet potato pieces in boiling salted water for 10 minutes or until tender, then drain, reserving cooking water. Mash sweet potato until smooth. Place soaked chillies, peanuts and sesame seeds in a food processor and process to a smooth paste, then transfer to a saucepan with tamarind liquid, sweet potato, palm sugar and 300ml reserved cooking water (top up with regular water if necessary). Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until thickened (add extra water if too thick – it should have a thick, pouring consistency). Remove from heat.

To make prawn fritters, sift flour, baking powder and turmeric into a bowl. Add 250 ml water and stir to form a batter. Stir in the prawns and season with salt and pepper. Fill a large frying pan 1 cm deep with oil and heat over medium heat. Working in batches, add heaped tablespoons of batter and cook, turning halfway, for 6 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel. Cut fritters in half.

Meanwhile, cook potatoes in boiling salted water for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain, cool slightly, then cut into 2.5 cm pieces. Set aside. Blanch bean sprouts in boiling salted water for 1 minute or until just starting to soften, then drain.

Divide potatoes, sprouts, yam bean, cucumber, tofu and eggs among shallow bowls. Top with the fritters, then spoon over dressing. Scatter with extra chopped peanuts to serve.

Note

• Yam beans (also known as jicama) are from Asian food shops and select greengrocers.

Photography Steve Brown

As seen in Feast magazine, May 2014, Issue 31.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.