Sweet, sour, spicy sprouted lentil and crispy noodle salad

By Saliha Mahmood-Ahmed
From Saturday Kitchen

Ingredients

• Sprouted green lentils (or brown, or both): 150g/5½oz
• Cannellini or haricot beans (drained, from a 400g tin): 400g
• Black beans (drained, from a 400g tin): 400g
• Red cabbage (finely sliced, about ¼ small cabbage)
• Heritage tomatoes (medium-sized, roughly chopped, ideally different colors): 2
• Persian cucumber (sliced into 1cm/½in-thick half moons): 1 medium cucumber
• Spring onions (finely sliced): 2
• Kashmiri chilli oil: 1 tsp
• Persian sour plum pulp (made from 100g/3½oz sour Persian plums soaked in hot water for a couple of hours): 4 tbsp
• Toasted cumin seeds (lightly crushed, heaped tsp)
• Lemon juice (from ½ lemon)
• Honey: 1 tsp
• Extra virgin olive oil: 2 generous tbsp
• Fresh flatleaf parsley (roughly torn, a handful)
• Vegetable oil: 1 tbsp
• Instant noodles (100g/3½oz pack)
• Toasted almonds (roughly chopped, a handful)

Method

1. Prepare the Salad:
   • In a bowl, combine the sprouted lentils, cannellini beans, black beans, red cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, and spring onions.
   • Pour in the Kashmiri chilli oil, sour plum pulp, cumin, lemon juice, honey, extra virgin olive oil, and parsley.
   • Stir everything well and season with salt.
2. Crispy Noodles:
   • Drizzle vegetable oil over the instant noodles.
   • Cook the noodles in an air fryer at 200°C (392°F) for 4 minutes to crisp them up.
   • Remove the noodles from the air fryer and roughly chop them.
3. Assemble and Serve:
   • Stir the crispy noodles through the salad.
   • Scatter toasted almonds over the top.
   • Serve immediately.