Spicy Tomatoes with Walnuts and Pomegranates

by Yasmin Khan, featured in Sabzi

Published by Bloomsbury

Print me

Introduction

This punchy salad is known as Gavurdağ salatasi in Turkish and gets its name from the Gavur Mountains in the eastern part of the country. As with all tomato salads, the quality of the fruit will determine how tasty the finished dish is, so buy the best available. I like to serve this as part of a spread of mezze-style starters, alongside some flatbreads to mop up its spicy and sour juices. Make sure you buy pomegranate molasses without any added sugar and be sure to use fresh walnuts, as they can very quickly become rancid and bitter. (I store mine in an airtight jar in the fridge to make them last longer.) I recommend making this salad about 30 minutes before you want to serve it to give time for the dressing to infuse the ingredients.

As featured in

Sabzi

Image of Yasmin Khan's Spicy Tomatoes — Photo by Jonathan Gregson

Ingredients

Serves: 4 to 6 as part of a mezze

SALAD

680 grams ripe tomatoes (cut into small pieces)
125 grams walnuts (finely chopped)
1 large handful mint leaves (finely chopped)
1 large handful parsley leaves (finely chopped)
3 spring onions (finely sliced)

DRESSING

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
1 small garlic clove (finely grated)
1½ teaspoons sumac
1½ teaspoons Aleppo pepper or other mild chilli flakes
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Spicy Tomatoes with Walnuts and Pomegranates is a guest recipe by Yasmin Khan so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe

Combine the tomatoes, walnuts, herbs, and spring onions in a large bowl.
To make the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, garlic, sumac, chilli flakes, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper in a small bowl.
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well. Set aside for 15 minutes, then taste and adjust the seasoning. This is a dish that is supposed to be sharp and spicy, so you may want to add more lemon, chilli flakes, and salt to your taste.