You only need half the tabil mixture in this salad, but the remainder can be kept for a few days in the fridge. See ideas for using it in Recipe Notes below.
Ingredients
—4 medium-large tomatoes (about 500g / a generous 1 lb) 1 telegraph cucumber 1-2 tsp flaky sea salt Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling ½ lemon or lime Optional: pomegranate molasses for drizzling Tabil 1 Tbsp carraway seeds 1 Tbsp coriander seeds ¼ tsp dried chilli flakes ¾ tsp cumin seeds 2 large cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
Method
—1 Put all ingredients for tabil in a spice grinder and grind to a sticky sort of paste. Alternatively, crush with a mortar and pestle.
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- Put tabil ingredients in a spice grinder or crush with a mortar and pestle.
2 Chop tomatoes roughly the same side as the cucumber. Drain in a sieve. Peel cucumber, cut in half then cut each piece in half lengthways. Scoop out seeds with a teaspoon. Chop cucumber into small dice. Drain in a sieve.
3 When ready to assemble, pat chopped cucumber dry with paper towels and transfer to a bowl. Tip tomatoes onto paper towels and pat dry then add to bowl with cucumber.
Tomato and cucumber need to be drained well and patted dry.
Season with salt, then stir through 1-2 teaspoons of tabil, or to taste. Sprinkle a little more on top of the salad. Squeeze over plenty of lemon or lime juice, then drizzle with a little oil. Serve immediately. For a change, drizzle with pomegranate molasses in place of lemon or lime juice.
Recipe Notes
This Tunisian / Algerian spice mixture is curiously pungent, and quite addictive. Carraway seeds are potent, so don’t be heavy-handed when measuring them because they can overpower everything (in the same way that a little Schezwan pepper can be alluring, but too much can kill your tastebuds and numb your mouth). You only need about a third of the tabil recipe in this dish. Use the remainder as a rub over fish or meats, to flavour dips, or mix into yoghurt and use as a sauce or drizzle over roasted vegetables or grilled meats.
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