Spicy Salad aka Acar

This is one of our favourites 'salad'... We usually cook the acar in a big pot, dish out the amount required, and freeze up the rest. The acar will last about 1 month in the freezer.... and will still retain its crunchiness.Use any 'crunchy' vegetable you can get in the market.. like carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, french beans... Cut them up into bite size. Bring the water to boil in a big stock pot, add some vinegar, tumeric powder and salt. Blanch the vegetables(tip: blanch one type of vegetable at a time). Strain and drain the water.

Sauce: 1 stalk lemongrass, 10 shallots,5 cloves of garlic, 3 candlenuts, 3 tbspn coriander seeds, 2cm fresh (frozen or powder)tumeric, 2 slices galangal, 1 tbspn belacan (Maggi belacan is used).

Blend all these spices into a paste, and heat oil in a wok and fry the blended spice until fragrant. Add sugar and salt. Put it aside and let it cool completely before mixing it up with the blanched vegetables.

Add fresh pineapple or canned pineapple(in natural juice).

Add grounded peanuts and roasted sesame seeds at the end before serving.

Tip: do not add pineapple, peanuts or sesame seeds if you intend to freeze some.

~Nonya Flavours