Samphire and sea beet sambol

Sambols are a very popular accompaniment to most meals in Sri Lanka, and can be used as an inspiration for a lovely fresh side salad – use any fresh leaves and veg you have. Here, the British coast is celebrated, pairing beautiful crab with foraged sea herbs. Feel free to substitute the sea beet with kale, baby spinach or any other leafy green you like, but be sure to add a touch of salt – it’s been kept low to account for the salinity of the sea herbs.

15 MINUTES | SERVES 2 AS A SIDE | EASY | GF

dried chilli flakes 2 tsp lime ½-1, juiced

curry leaves 5-6

shallots 2 round, peeled and roughly chopped

fresh coconut 50g, finely grated, or frozen grated coconut defrosted (see cook’s notes)

samphire a small handful

sea beets a small handful, roughly chopped

green chilli 1, roughly chopped (optional)

carrot 1 small, grated

coriander leaves roughly chopped to make 2 tbsp

black peppercorns ground to make ½ tsp

1 Use a large pestle and mortar to thoroughly bash 1/2 tsp of salt and the chilli flakes, adding a little squeeze of lime juice. Once the chilli flakes have turned into a bright red powder, add the curry leaves and shallots, and pound a few times to break them up and release their juices – you just want to bruise them, as opposed to turning them into a paste.

2 Add the coconut and the juice of half a lime. Pound a few more times to bruise the coconut, then stir everything together.

3 Tip the mixture into a medium bowl, add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Check for seasoning and add more salt or lime juice, if you like. This sambol is best enjoyed at room temperature or slightly chilled. It will keep for up to 3 hours but is best assembled at the last minute and eaten fresh.

PER SERVING 141 kcals | fat 9.9G saturates 8G | carbs 6.8G | sugars 5.7G fibre 6.2G | protein 2.9G | salt 1.6G