Black Rice Salad With Mangoes

Well, anything forbidden is fun. True to its name black rice alias forbidden rice adds the same extent of intrigue to its dishes. Be it a pudding, a risotto or a simple salad, black rice more like wine in colour when cooked elevates the dish by its sheer presence. Legend has it that black rice was tagged as forbidden rice because the Chinese emperors refused to share the rice with commoners so that only first family could enjoy the high end nutritional qualities of the rice. The rice is a tremendous source of vitamin E, iron and antioxidants

For this salad, take a cup of black rice and boil it till soft. Along with this cup of cooked rice, you need about 4 stalks of scallions or spring onions, one red onion, coriander leaves and diced mangoes. Cut the scallions slating wise in about half an inch sized pieces. The red onion can be cut vertically and the mangoes are diced in cubes. Chop the coriander leaves semi-finely.

For the dressing, make a lemon vinaigrette. In a small blender put in the leaves from 3 stalks of coriander leaves along-with a bit of stalk, 2 pods of finely minced garlic, juice of one lime, salt and pepper to taste and 1/2 tsp of Kosher salt. Whisk for a min. Your dressing is ready.

Dress the salad, serve cold. If you dress the salad for atleast 2 hours before serving, it lends more flavour and therefore character to the salad. It is indeed a beautiful summer salad.