Creamy Potato Salad

This is another one of my mom’s recipes that I desperately wanted to veganize. Most of her potato salad ingredients were plant based anyway. Only these two were not: mayonnaise and eggs. Vegan mayonnaise is fairly easy to make, but what about those eggs? After doing some research, I discovered kala namak, aka Himalayan black salt. It contains sulfur compounds that are responsible for this distinctive taste and smell of hard-boiled eggs once it is added to food. I definitely wanted to give it a try, but kala namak started our relationship by playing hard-to-get. None of my local stores had it in stock or even knew about it. Thank goodness it was available online, so I ordered. It didn’t have much of a smell when I opened the bag but, whoa! …. once in the dressing, there was the hard-boiled egg, and I mean smell and taste! It mellowed down to a wonderful aroma, exactly what I had in mind. Since I always thought that cooked chickpeas had somewhat an egg texture, I added those as well. So here’s my deliciously creamy and flavorful potato salad! I’m sure my mom would approve.

Remember to soak cashews for at least 4 hours!

You will need:

• a high speed blender

Ingredients: (for about 6 servings)

• 1.5 lb (700 g) waxy potatoes like fingerling
• 1 cup (150 g) cooked chickpeas
• 7 oz (200 g) cherry- or grape tomatoes, diced
• 8-10 cornichons, sliced
• 1-2 Tbsp capers (just omit, if you don’t like them)
• 2 Tbsp red or sweet onion, finely diced
• freshly cracked black pepper to taste
• 4 Tbsp minced parsley and/or chives (keep some for garnish, if you like)

For the dressing:

• 1 generous cup (140 g) raw, unsalted cashews soaked in filtered water for at least 4 hours or overnight, drained
• ¾ cup (180 ml) filtered water (don’t use the water you soaked the cashews in!)
• 2 tsp yellow mustard
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• ¼ tsp black mustard seeds
• 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp kala namak (Himalayan black salt)

Preparation:

1. Cook potatoes in sufficient water until soft. Drain, let cool down, then slice.
2. Place sliced potatoes with chickpeas, tomatoes, cornichons, capers, onion, black pepper, and parsley/chives into a salad bowl.
3. Place all the dressing ingredients into the container of a high-speed blender and process at highest setting until very smooth and creamy.
4. Pour dressing over salad and gently toss. Season to taste, garnish, and enjoy!

Notes:

• This salad keeps refrigerated for at least 3 days.
• You can find kala namak salt in Indian- or specialty stores. It is also available online.
• You can easily double or triple the recipe to feed a crowd.
• Perfect with any kind of vegan BBQ, for a buffet, or to bring to a party!