Green bean & paneer salad with a tamarind dressing

Nourished Communities and Plate Talks are collaborating on a monthly series of recipes to celebrate delicious produce, home cookery, and local conversations. This is the second in the series.

British green beans are in season - one of my favourite salad ingredients! They taste best when quickly blanched in salted water and then dropped in an ice bath to stop the cooking process so that they still have a bit of a crunch. I usually serve them with a simple french mustard dressing, but I wanted to try something a little different with this refreshing and fruity tamarind and lime dressing.

(Serves 2 as a main, or 4 as a side)

Ingredients

• 400g green beans

• 1.5 litres boiling water

• 2 tsp fine sea salt

For the paneer:

• 1 pack of paneer (mine was 226g)

• 2 tbsp neutral oil (I used rapeseed oil)

• 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger (about 15g)

• 2 garlic cloves

• 2 tsp chaat masala

• 1 tsp fine chilli powder

• 1 tsp fine sea salt

For the dressing:

• 5 tsp tamarind paste

• juice of 1/2 of a lime  

• 1 tsp honey

• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil

To serve:

• 1 tbsp nigella seeds

• 20g coriander leaves

• 1 shallot

• 1 green chilli

Equipment

• cooking pot

• sharp knife 

• chopping board 

• frying pan

• tongs

• measuring jug

• teaspoon

• tablespoon

• small whisk

• mandolin (optional) 

Method

For the beans:

1. Trim the stalk end off the beans

2. Bring a pot of water to the boil and add 2 tsp of fine sea salt

3. Meanwhile, prepare a bowl with cold water and ice cubes

4. Once the water in the pot is boiling, add the beans and turn the heat down to the lowest setting. Leave to blanch for 4 minutes or until tender but still with bite

5. After 4 minutes, drain the beans and quickly transfer them to the bowl with the iced water to stop the cooking process

6. Leave the beans in the iced water bowl until you have made the dressing

For the paneer:

1. Grate the ginger and garlic into a bowl

2. Add the oil, chaat masala, chilli powder and sea salt to the bowl and mix everything to make a dressing/paste

3. Slice the paneer into 16 equal cubes and add to the bowl

4. Mix everything together well and leave for 10 minutes to marinade

5. Heat a non-stick pan to a medium heat

6. Add the contents of the bowl to the pan and fry for about 6 minutes until the paneer is golden brown. Use the tongs to keep turning the paneer pieces to make sure they are evenly cooked

7. Remove from the pan and leave to cool until you have made the dressing

For the dressing:

1. Add the tamarind paste, lime juice and honey to a small bowl and whisk together

2. Slowly add the rapeseed oil to the bowl, whisking as you go, to emulsify the dressing

To serve:  

1. Drain the beans and pat dry with a clean tea towel

2. Toast the nigella seeds in a hot pan for 2-3 minutes

3. Finely slice the shallot into rounds using a mandolin or sharp knife 

4. Finely slice the green chilli

5. Roughly chop the coriander leaves

6. Put the beans and the dressing in a large bowl and use your hands to mix well

7. Then add the paneer, coriander, shallots, nigella seeds, and chillies to the bowl and gently combine everything

8. Serve!

“Nourished Communities is an online farmers market set up to help farmers and local producers during COVID-19. With the closure of Farmers’ Markets, Rollo Millership, who has worked on fruit and vegetable stalls since a teenager, started Nourished Communities at the onset of the coronavirus crisis (March 2020) to support local businesses, producers and farmers whose livelihoods have been affected by the lockdown and also those who didn’t want to miss out on fresh, seasonal produce from farmers’ markets. Nourished Communities brings the finest quality seasonal home-grown produce & products from the English countryside and beyond straight to your door. They began by running out of a pub in Clerkenwell and now thanks to the community spirit and generosity of Coexistence have been able to open a shop in Islington. Just as they were started through giving, Nourished Communities want to give back as much as possible to the community they are part of. They aim to make “ripples and waves” within their community, and to champion and actively do business with people who have a positive impact on the community. Most recently, Rollo and the team have been supporting the @curryclub which sees London chefs (including Meera Sodha, Anna Jones and more) joining forces to cook meals for London's vulnerable, sourcing produce from farms close to London who have been hit by the pandemic. Whilst the Big Issue stopped printing because of Covid they hired, Will, the big issue man from Upper Street to flyer for them. They are involved with numerous food banks across North and East London. and always open to new and creative ideas. If you have any don't hesitate to get in touch with them to make some ripples in our community! The next steps for them are to start a foundation taking children who have been excluded from schools to see the producers and farmers they work with!”