Carrot Pachadi / Carrot Salad

Friday, August 15th is India's 61st Independence Day. To celebrate the Independence Day, I bring you healthy, nutritious carrot pachadi with a patriotic theme. I garnished the pachadi with grated carrot, chopped onions and cilantro to look like an Indian flag. I used the tempered green chillies and mustard seeds to make the chakra of the flag.

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

• 6 Carrots grated or 2 cups of grated Carrots
• ¼ cup Green Gram Sprouts (opt)
• ½ small Onion chopped or ¼ cup chopped Onion
• 4 Green Chilies seeded and chopped (adjust to taste)
• ¼ teaspoon dry roasted and powdered Mustard Seeds
• ¼ teaspoon dry roasted and powdered Fenugreek Seeds
• Lime Juice to taste
• Salt to Taste
• Cilantro Chopped
• Tempering:
  • 1-2 tablespoon Oil
  • 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
  • 1 teaspoon Urad Dal
  • 1 Dry Red Chili
  • 3 Green Chilies Chopped (adjust to taste)
  • ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder

• Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, except the the ingredients listed under tempering.
• Heat oil in a pan, add red chili and mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds pop and splutter, add urad dal and green chilies. Once the chilies change color, add turmeric powder and turn off the stove.
• Add the tempering to the carrot mixture and dig in.
• Serve pachadi as a side dish with rice. I eat it as a snack, when ever I am hungry.

• Sprouts are not part of the traditional recipe. I like sprouts and added it to the pachadi. If you don't like them, you can skip it. Meera of Enjoy Indian Food has a detailed post on how to make homemade sprouts.
• You can substitute sprouts with grated fresh cabbage or/and fresh grated coconut, as mom does it.