Cucumber Salad 2

Ingredients:

1 English cucumber or 2-3 pickling cucumbers (or use any cucumber with tender seeds)
1/4 cup mung dal - soak in water for 2 hours - discard water once soaked
1 Jalapeno pepper or 2-3 chillies (like Fingerhot peppers) chopped into 0.25" pieces
Fresh coriander leaves (cilantro leaves) - 3-4 tsp finely chopped
Peanut oil for tempering - 2-3 tsp
1/4 tsp black mustard seeds
1/8 tsp hing powder
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal *(black lentils) - optional
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
salt to taste

Recipe:

Wash and peel cucumbers. Chop them coarsely or grate them coarsely.
Squeeze out water (you could drink the water or apply it to your face as a mask).
Add mung dal.
Add salt, sugar, lemon juice to your taste.
Add chopped fresh cilantro.
Heat ghee for ghee tempering
Add black mustard seeds. After they pop add cumin seeds and black lentils (urad dal) and let them get lightly brown.
Add hing powder and add this to cucumbers.
Mix well and serve right away as a side dish.
I also serve these salads with sandwiches instead of potato chips or french fries.

Notes:

You could substitute cucumbers with
1) finely grated carrots
2) tomatoes
3) 4 med. tomatoes + 1 small onion
4) radishes
5) cabbage - chopped finely
6) cauliflower - chopped finely
7) iceberg lettuce (half head) and spring onions (4-6 stalks)
8) mix two or many from - cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, carrots, onions, iceberg lettuce, spring onions, cauliflower, cabbage

*dal - split legume
Buy most of the spices and dals in Indian stores. I store my spices in glass jars in the freezer. It is best to use legumes and dals within 4-6 months but when I purchase them in bulk and need to store them outside the refrigerator, I add 1 tsp of boric acid to them and mix well. I always wash them 3 times before using them in cooking.