Daikon & Orange Salad with Sesame-Cumin Dressing

Recipe by

Asha Loupy

Serves

4 to 6

Difficulty

Beginner

Daikon & Orange Salad with Sesame-Cumin Dressing

Photo by:

Melati Citrawireja

Excerpted from The Diaspora Spice Co. Cookbook. These are just a few of the deeply personal recipes that tell the story of our farm partners, their kitchens, and the spices they grow. Order your copy here!

After 13 hours of travel from Kerala all the way up to Dehradun, Uttrakhand, Asha and I stumbled into Garhwali chef Yojana Khanduri Chaudhary’s home, a little worse for wear and with very hungry tummies. The minute we walked in, the most wonderful aromas — fragrant smells of alliums and warm toasted spices — wrapped around us like a much-needed, warm hug. Everything Yojana cooked that night — from tender lamb curry and brothy Pahadi rajma (our version of it on page xx) to her famous achaars — was iconic, but one of the dishes that really stood out was the Khatta Hua Nimbu Mooli, a simple radish and citrus salad, dressed with toasted sesame and cumin seeds, green chilies, yogurt, mustard seed oil, and lemon juice. Each bright, spicy, roasty-toasty, crunchy bite bringing us back to life slowly. The famous Asha-Sana eye contact was made, and the flavors were committed to memory.

Early winter in the Himalayas brings the most prolific citrus harvests — regional varieties of sweet limes, pomelos, tangerines and buddha’s hands flood the local markets. Another speciality is radishes that have gotten extra sweet and crunchy from maturing in the winter frost. Uttarakhand is divided into two regions — Kumaon and Garhwal — and both regions are famous for their Saans (in Kumaoni) or Khattas (in Garhwali). The general components are always citrus as the star, a spiced salt or pisyun loon for seasoning, a little extra sweetness in jaggery or honey to balance the sour citrus, yogurt, and if available, sweet winter radishes.

For our version, we used daikon — but you can use plain ol’ Easter radishes in a pinch — and sweet, honeyed Cara Cara oranges, when they're in season, plus arugula for that peppery bite in lieu of mustard seed oil. Instead of mixing yogurt into the dressing, this salad is served atop cooling swooshes of labne, bringing creaminess and tang without weighing down the salad itself.

Ingredients

½ pound (227 grams) daikon
2 medium Cara Cara or navel oranges (about 1 pound, 454 grams)
1½ tablespoons sesame seeds
½ teaspoon Jodhana Cumin
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Juice of ½ lemon (2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon mild honey or maple syrup
1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more
3 cups (60 grams) arugula, lightly packed
½ cup (25 grams) roughly chopped cilantro, leaves and tender stems
1 Fresno pepper, very thinly sliced
½ cup (120 grams) labneh
Flaky sea salt, for finishing

Methods

Peel and thinly slice ½ pound daikon into ⅛” rounds. (If your daikon is larger than 2” in diameter, cut in half lengthwise, then thinly slice into half moons.) Transfer the sliced daikon to a bowl, add ice, cover with cold water, and let rest for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare 2 medium Cara Cara or navel oranges. Taking one orange at a time, cut off ¼” off the top and the bottom of the fruit. Place the orange cut side down and, using a sharp knife, cut the peel and pith off in strips, starting from the top and cutting around the curve of the fruit. Discard the peels. Cut between the membranes to remove each orange wedge (or supreme) and transfer the supremes to a bowl. Before discarding the membrane-y center of the orange, squeeze out any juice onto the supremes. Set aside.
Heat a tadka spoon or small skillet over medium heat. Add 1½ tablespoons sesame seeds and ½ teaspoon cumin seeds and toast, stirring frequently, until the sesame seeds turn light golden and smell toasty, 1 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a mortar and let cool completely. When cooled, grind into a medium-coarse powder. Set aside.
Pour any juice that’s accumulated from the orange supremes into a mason jar, leaving the supremes behind in the bowl. Add 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, the juice of ½ lemon, 1 teaspoon mild honey or maple syrup, and the remaining 1 teaspoon fine sea salt into the jar, seal, and shake vigorously to emulsify. Taste and season with more salt, if needed.
To assemble, drain the daikon, discarding any ice, and pat dry well. Wipe out the bowl and add the daikon back to the bowl along with the orange supremes, 3 lightly packed arugula, ½ cup roughly chopped cilantro, 1 thinly sliced Fresno pepper, and the reserved ground sesame seed-cumin mixture. Give the dressing another 30 seconds of vigorous shaking to re-emulsify it and then drizzle half of it over the salad. Using clean hands, gently toss to coat, taste, and season with more dressing and salt, if necessary.
To serve, swoosh ½ cup labneh in a thin layer over a serving platter, pile the salad on top, and finish with flaky sea salt, if desired. Serve immediately. (If preparing ahead of time, keep all the ingredients separate, and assemble right before serving.)

Notes: Fresno peppers can pack a 1,2 punch of heat sometimes, so if you want a milder heat, you can half the pepper, remove the seeds and ribs, then thinly slice into half moons. If you can’t find Fresno peppers, you can substitute serrano or jalapeño peppers.

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