Zealver Clubs

Cucumber, potato and dill salad

Reviewed by Dr Namrata Bagaria, MBBS, MPH (Harvard)Last reviewed

Salad Serves 4 20 minutes, plus 30 minutes chilling

This is a classic combination in German, Scandinavian and Eastern European cooking, where potato, cucumber and dill turn up together all summer. Dill will be familiar to you as suva or shepu, and it is what makes the dish taste like itself, so do not leave it out.

It suits a hot afternoon because nothing needs cooking except the potatoes, and it improves for sitting in the fridge an hour, which makes it a genuinely useful thing to have in your repertoire when people are coming.

Ingredients

  • 2 medium potatoes, boiled and cut into bite-sized cubes
  • 1 large cucumber, thinly sliced
  • 1 tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed, or a cupful cooked
  • 2 to 3 tbsp fresh dill (suva), chopped
  • 1 small red onion, thinly sliced (optional)

For the dressing

  • 2 tbsp thick curd, hung curd or Greek yogurt
  • 1 tbsp mustard: wholegrain or Dijon if you have it, otherwise a teaspoon of mustard paste or kasundi
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

  1. 1

    Boil the potatoes until just tender, no further, or they will break up when you toss them. Let them cool a little, then cut into bite-sized cubes.

  2. 2

    Slice the cucumber thinly. For a crunchier salad, salt the slices lightly, leave them for ten minutes, then pat them dry, which draws out some of the water.

  3. 3

    Whisk the curd, mustard, olive oil and lemon juice together with a good pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper. Taste it now, while you can still adjust it.

  4. 4

    Tip the potatoes, cucumber, chickpeas, dill and onion into a bowl and fold the dressing through gently.

  5. 5

    Chill for twenty to thirty minutes before serving. It will taste better than it did when you mixed it.

Good to know

  • The chickpeas are what make this a light meal rather than a side dish, and they bring protein and fibre with them. Worth putting in rather than treating as optional.
  • A handful of toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds on top adds crunch and a little more protein.
  • If you are watching your blood sugar, keep the potato modest and let the chickpeas and vegetables do more of the work, and eat it alongside something with protein rather than on its own.
  • Paneer, crumbled over, works well in place of the feta this is often made with.

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