Winter is the best time to cook in Mumbai because there’s just so much good produce around. You get black carrots, red carrots, yam, and a myriad of other delightful things. In the winter of 2017, I found three varieties of carrots in the market, and the idea for this salad got seeded. I felt the tomato and burrata salad was overdone – instead, we should do something with different textures and forms of carrots. Then came the idea of carrot foogath – we got carrots, garlic, mustard, onions – and it all started to come along. We used a puree of orange carrots; chewier red carrots for sweetness; and roasted black carrots for a mealy touch. There was a play of textures and flavours in every bite: the creamy burrata, spicy mustard puree, and crunch from the pumpkin seeds. In summer, we make it with cherry tomatoes and corn.

  • Serves

    4

  • Cook Time

    40m

Ingredients

For Carrot Mustard Puree

  • 2 cups orange carrots, peeled and sliced
  • ½ cup oil
  • 1 tbsp grain mustard paste
  • 1 bird’s eye chilli
  • White wine vinegar to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • Sugar to taste

For Roasted Carrots Salsa

  • ½ cup diced red carrots
  • ½ cup diced black carrots
  • 3 tbsp chopped onion
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp chopped cilantro stems
  • Lime juice to taste
  • Salt to taste

To Serve

  • Carrot mustard puree
  • Roasted carrot salsa
  • 1 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds
  • 1 tbsp toasted melon seeds
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp chopped chives or mustard cress
  • 2 burratas
  • Pinch of sea salt or coarse salt

Preparation

For Carrot Mustard Puree

  1. Cook carrots in a steamer for around 30-40 minutes until mushy.
  2. Whizz with mustard and rest of the ingredients in a blender.
  3. Season and chill.

For Roasted Carrots Salsa

  1. Marinate diced red and black carrots separately, each with salt and 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil for 10 minutes.
  2. Roast carrots at 180°C for 5-6 minutes until tender but not mushy. Let cool.
  3. Mix with onion and cilantro stems.
  4. Season with lime juice, remaining olive oil and salt. Reserve the salsa.

To Serve

  1. Spoon the carrot puree in a circle on a plate, creating the base. Top that with roasted carrot salsa.
  2. Marinate burrata in sea salt and extra virgin olive oil for 5 minutes and place it on top of salsa.
  3. Finish with toasted pumpkin seeds, melon seeds and chopped chives.
Hussain Shahzad

Hussain Shahzad

Hussain Shahzad, the Executive Chef at O Pedro, a Goa-inspired restaurant in Mumbai, is Scroll Food’s Chef of the Month for October. He started his career with the Oberoi Group of Hotels in Mumbai, before moving to New York, where he worked at the iconic Eleven Madison Park. His culinary adventures have taken him around the world and included a brief stint as a personal chef to Roger Federer. Before taking the reins at O Pedro, he was a part of the team at the award-winning The Bombay Canteen. A dynamic and bold chef, Hussain’s food philosophy is to showcase local produce using contemporary culinary techniques.

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