After eating a lot of heavy Christmas food I felt I needed something light; something crunchy and preferably sour and spicy. But I didn’t really want to go out either – I wanted to stay inside where it’s warm and cosy and I had my Christmas books and my furry slippers. And to be perfectly honest I didn’t really want to have to work to hard either.

Luckily, I had carrots, cilantro and some beautiful chilies that I bought right before Christmas for no other reason than that they were pretty.

So the result was a variation on a recipe I’ve posted before. The last one was inspired by Middle Eastern food, but with very few modifications I ended up with something that was very close to Thai food. And it was spicy, slightly sour and full of carotene so I was perfectly happy.

Here’s how to (for one person):

2 carrots

1 clove of garlic

1/2 – 1 chili (depending on how hot it is and how spicy you want it)

1 – 2 tsp tahini

the juice from 1/2 lemon

a pinch of brown sugar

a pinch of salt

some cilantro/coriander leaves

a little olive oil

1 tbsp peanut, chopped or crushed

1. Peel and grate the carrots.
2. Chop the garlic and chili very finely.
3. Heat a little oil and fry them until the garlic turns golden around the edges.
4. Put in the carrots and add lemon juice and tahini. Stir until carrots are softish – they should retain a slight crispiness.
5. Taste with some salt and a little sugar.
6. Chop the cilantro and sprinkle it over the food (or simply cut it with a pair of scissors over it; that’s my way of doing it).
7. Finish by spreading the peanuts over the dish.

Serve with rice.