A French salad in the Keralan backwaters

A few years ago I was lucky enough to be invited to go to Bangalore with a friend I worked with in the City. She was going back home and invited me to join her. That trip cemented my love affair with dosas and coconut chutney. Most mornings we’d wake up and hop onto her motorbike to weave out way through traffic to a dosa stand. They were the BEST.

Back home in London I'm currently enjoying the Mangal's dosa and Pathiri's when I can get there (thank you so much Amuda for introducing me to these places). But I’m digressing, this piece is about a French green bean salad I enjoyed in the Kerelan back waters. Whilst we were in Bangalore we took a short trip to Kerala and stayed in Phillip Kuttys farm which is a serene homestay on the backwaters. https://philipkuttysfarm.com/

The farm is actually on an island so to get across they provide a vallam (country boat) to punt you across the water with your bag. It was a really special way to arrive. I loved the warmth of the homestay but also the fact that you have your own villa separate to the house so you have your own privacy. We were lucky enough to stay in this waterfront villa. Amuda and I used to buy Kingfisher beers and sit quietly with our books by the water as the sun went down...and breathe....

The two recipes I brought back were one for a set coconut mousse which I'll make and share shortly (it's lovely with ripe mango) and this green bean salad which is so much more than the sum of its parts. It's been a few years since I stayed there (about 12 I think) that I can't remember whether Anu (one of the owners) made these for us then kindly shared the recipes or whether I picked up a magazine whilst staying there and found them - my memory! The green bean definitely recipe hails from from Gourmet.com . I love that I scribbled it down on the hotel stationary, there's something special about hotel stationary, hopefully it never dies away.

Green Bean and hazelnut salad

2tbsp hazelnuts

340g green beans

2 1/4 tsp grainy mustard

1 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/8 tsp fine sea salt

4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil (I prefer rapeseed oil)

1 tsp hazelnut oil

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

Heat your oven to approx. 160 degree c and put your hazelnuts onto a tray in the oven and roast until golden, give them a shake a couple of times, this might take 15-20 mins. If they have skins on them slough them off between your fingers. Coarsely chop them.

Trim your green beans and halve them diagonally. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook your beans until just tender, this will take approx 4-6 mins. Drain them and put them straight into a bowl with iced water to stop them cooking. You don't want soggy green beans!

Finely chop your red onion.

In the bowl you're going to serve the beans in (saves on dishes) whisk the mustard together with the vinegar and sea salt. I didn't have grainy mustard so I used Dijon.

Next whisk in the olive and hazelnut oil. Again, I didn't have hazelnut oil so I skipped it last time I made it. Now you can stir in you green beans, nuts, and onion. Season with salt and pepper and enjoy.