Singju
manipur's raw-vegetable salad bound with roasted gram flour and loud with chilli
Allergens in Singju: fish, sesame.
Ingredients
Quantities for 4.
- 250g, shredded as finely as you can manage Cabbage
- 100g, cut into fine matchsticks Radishoptional
- 4, finely sliced Spring Onion
- 4 tbsp Besandry-roasted; this is the binder that makes singju singju
- 1 tbsp Sesamestands in for thoiding, the perilla seed used in Manipur, which the catalogue does not carry. Roast and grind it the same way
- 20g Dried Fishfor ngari, the fermented fish; roast and crumble it
- 4 Dried Red Chilli
- 3 tbsp, chopped Coriander Leavesoptional
- 1/2, juiced Lemonoptional
- to taste Salt
Cookware
stovetop
Checked against the ingredient list for ten allergens: milk, egg, fish, crustaceans, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, mustard, soy and gluten. Brands vary, so read the label on anything new to you.
Before you start
- Shred the cabbage on the day and keep it dry. Washed and not spun out, the water thins the gram flour and the salad slumps.
- Roast the besan, sesame, chilli and dried fish ahead. All four can be done in the same pan, in that order, in under ten minutes.
- Dress it at the last minute. Singju is assembled to be eaten within about twenty minutes.
Method
- Dry-roast the besan over low heat for 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until it turns a shade darker and smells nutty. Tip it straight out of the pan.It goes from nutty to burnt in about fifteen seconds at the end. Do not walk away.
- Roast the sesame in the same pan 2 minutes until the seeds start popping, then grind them coarsely.
- Roast the dried red chillies 40 seconds a side until they darken, and pound them coarse.
- Roast the dried fish 3 minutes over low heat until brittle, then crumble it fine.
- Toss the cabbage, radish and spring onion in a wide bowl with the salt and leave 5 minutes.
- Squeeze the vegetables gently with your hands and pour off any water that has come out.This is the step people skip, and it is why home singju often goes soggy.
- Scatter over the roasted besan, ground sesame, crumbled fish and pounded chilli, and mix with your fingers until every shred is coated and the flour has stopped looking powdery.
- Add the lemon juice and coriander, toss once more and serve immediately as a side or an evening snack.
Safe temperatures: Fish is done at 63°C / 145°F, or when it turns opaque and flakes easily. Reheat leftovers to 74°C / 165°F. FoodSafety.gov
Storage
Eat within the hour. The gram flour draws water and the salad wilts. The roasted besan, sesame, chilli and fish keep a week in an airtight jar, so make that mix ahead and shred the cabbage fresh.
Nutrition Medium estimate
One serving of Singju (137 g) is about 113 calories, or 83 calories per 100 g.
Low protein: 8 g a serving, 30% of the calories
| Per serving137 g | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 113 kcal | 83 kcal |
| Protein | 8.4 g | 6 g |
| Carbohydrate | 15.2 g | 11 g |
| of which sugars | 4.6 g | 3 g |
| Fibre | 4.6 g | 3 g |
| Fat | 2.4 g | 2 g |
| of which saturated | 0.3 g | 0 g |
| of which unsaturated | 1.7 g | 1 g |
Ingredients given to taste count as zero, so the real figures run a little higher. Estimated from raw ingredients using USDA FoodData Central.
More like this: Quick Indian recipes (30 min) · Healthy Indian recipes · Gluten-free Indian recipes · Dairy-free Indian recipes · Northeast Indian recipes
Times, yields, allergens and nutrition are guidance. Use your own judgement on doneness and on storing. More in About.