Carrot and cumin salad

Serves 4 as a salad

I have a thing about cumin. It's one of the many spices found in curries that makes you crave them so badly they can almost become addictive. In North Africa cumin is widely used with meat, fish and vegetables, as in this simple carrot salad. The carrot and cumin seem made for each other.

I have a thing about cumin. It's one of the many spices found in curries that makes you crave them so badly they can almost become addictive. In North Africa cumin is widely used with meat, fish and vegetables, as in this simple carrot salad. The carrot and cumin seem made for each other.

Serve this salad as part of a mezze selection or as an accompaniment for a roast joint, like lamb (or mutton), as in North Africa.

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1tsp ground cumin
1tsp cumin seeds
4tbsp olive oil
6 medium sized carrots, trimmed, peeled and thinly sliced
100ml orange juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Gently cook the onion in the olive oil on a low heat with the ground cumin and seeds for 4-5 minutes, without colouring and stirring every so often. Add the carrots and orange juice, season and add enough water just to cover the carrots. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and simmer until just tender. Remove the lid, turn the heat up and cook on a medium heat until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool. Stir in the coriander and serve the carrots at room temperature.