The Desi Salad with Chicken Tikka from Botiwalla is so good my wife and I will make the trek from Sandy Springs, toting two cranky toddlers, just to get it for takeout. The combination of flavors and textures makes this the ultimate salad experience. — Eric Smith, Sandy Springs
Daniel Peach, culinary director for the Chai Pani Restaurant Group, provided the recipe for vegetable salad with lots of crunch and bright flavors.
Because the cumin is an important component of both the dressing and the Chicken Tikka, Peach recommends making your own cumin powder by toasting cumin seeds in a dry skillet until fragrant, then cooling the seeds and crushing or grinding in a spice grinder. Another option would be to purchase the roasted cumin from Spicewalla, a sister company to Botiwalla.
For the neutral oil called for in the recipes for Masala Cashews and Chicken Tikka, use any of your favorite cooking oils except highly flavored ones such as olive oil.
In this photo, the salad is paired with mango lassi, a refreshing counterpoint to the slight heat in the salad.
Botiwalla’s Chicken Tikka Desi Salad
Sev are thin, crunchy noodles made from chickpea flour and sold at Indian groceries.
Masala Cashews
This recipe makes much more than you’ll need for the salad, but, as culinary director Daniel Peach suggests, they’re so delicious you’ll want extra for snacking. Kashmiri chili powder can be found at stores carrying Indian groceries, or online. You can also substitute paprika, which will provide the color but not the chile flavor.
Chicken Tikka
You can buy ginger-garlic paste, a combination of equal parts peeled ginger and garlic, at Indian stores and in the produce section of some supermarkets, but Peach suggests you can also make your own. Combine 1/4 cup garlic cloves and 1/4 cup roughly chopped peeled fresh ginger in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. You may need to add a teaspoon of oil to help the mixture puree. Peach suggests you make at least double the amount and keep the extra in a jar in your refrigerator, where it will last for a month. “This stuff is gold. It makes a great base rub for chicken and other meats.”
Kasuri methi is dried fenugreek and available at Indian grocery stores. Ghee is clarified butter and available at Indian groceries and natural food stores. It is also easy to make at home by melting butter over low heat. As the butter heats, it will separate. Skim off the foam that rises to the top. You will begin to see milk solids settling to the bottom of the pot. After about 25 minutes, turn off the heat and allow the ghee to cool, then strain it into a storage container, leaving the milk solids behind.
The recipe calls for roasting the chicken. Grilling the chicken would be another option.
From the menu of ... Botiwalla, Ponce City Market, 675 Ponce de Leon Ave., Atlanta. 470-225-8963, botiwalla.com.
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