Keith’s Ayurvedic Carrot Salad

eith Squires’ passion for feeding people began with home-baking at the age of nine when he’d bring home-baked goodies to school. His schoolmates joined in and, before long, they were swapping cakes during the lunch breaks, raiding mums’ cookery books in the evenings and even growing their own vegetables in the school grounds.

He now combines his background in nutrition, Ayurveda, herbalism and cookery with more than 30 years’ experience as a vegetarian chef.

Keith also travels widely, teaching in workshops, retreats and courses around the world.

As a result of being continually asked for recipes, he has created his Cooking With Love recipe book which is packed with beautiful images and easy to follow recipes that incorporate his expertise with herbalism and Ayurvedic principles. l Visit https://keithonfood.com

SERVES 2-3

Raw food, although full of vitality and living enzymes, can seem cold and unappetising. In Ayurvedic cooking there are warm salads that mix hot and cold ingredients, or have seasonings in the dressing to make them more digestible.

150g carrots peeled and grated

100g fennel bulb finely sliced 2tbsp raisins Good pinch of salt

Quarter tsp freshly ground black pepper

2tsp chopped fresh parsley 1tsp grated fresh ginger 2tsp lemon juice 2tbsp ghee or coconut oil

Half a tsp black or brown mustard seed

Pinch of asafoetida 1tsp ground cumin

l For this recipe you need a pan with a well-fitting lid.

l Combine the carrots, fennel, raisins, salt, pepper, parsley and lemon juice in a bowl.

l In the pan, gently melt the ghee/ coconut oil. Carefully add the mustard seeds, keeping your face away from the pan.

l Cover with the lid, heat and wait for the seeds to pop. Remove from the heat and wait for the seeds to stop crackling.

l Keeping your face away from the pan, carefully add the ginger, asafoetida and ground cumin. Let it sizzle for a few seconds.

l Pour on to the salad and mix well.

Keith Squires