"Russian" to beat the heat

I got a fridge! and with temperatures hitting 110 this week, its about time. After 6 months of begging I finally found someone who knew someone who knew someone selling a fridge!

First purchase? Olives. Mustard. Pickles. Now thats a fridge my parents can be proud of!

On Saturday I will be hosting 10 friends from the office for a Shabbat dinner. Feeling a bit anxious about what to cook, I thought I would experiment with some recipes ahead of time.
Most Indian joints (both nice and not so nice) have Russian salad on the menu (russian salad sandwich, russian salad salad, russian salad sizzler, etc etc). It always makes me smile, but whenever I order it- I am left disappointed.  Some stuff  (cant figure out what they put in there!) chopped and thrown around in an eggless mayo 'wanna be' sauce. So I thought I should give my Indian friends an introduction to real russian cooking and satisfy my cravings for mom's home cooked meals.
Russian Olivye. First created in 1860s by a cook in one of Moscow's high class eateries is now enjoyed by hungry people all over the world. As I know it, Salad Olivye has one meat (most commonly the delicacy known as Bologna), a few boiled veggies, egg, pickle, dill and tossed in mayo (because russians love anything in mayo). Being in a vegetarian state and having a strong aversion to mayo- my version is a tad bit different, but no less russian!

Alana's Culturally Sensitive Salad Olivye
1- big onion
2- eggs

2- pickles

3- carrots
4- tiny tiny pieces of garlic
5- potatoes

7- olives

freshly made yogurt (or any plain yogurt)

handful of peas

handful of parsley

a touch of fresh ginger

a touch of mustard

a pinch of red chili powder

a pinch of salt and pepper

And then....

Throw all the potatoes and carrots into the pressure cooker.  Bring another pot of water to boil and cook the peas until their shells began to split. After the p'cooker lets out a whistle,  remove the carrots and let the potatoes cook for another 4-5 whistles (or until you can stick a fork in 'em).  The carrots go in the *new fridge* for cooling! 

Peas are done? Into the fridge they go! I kept the water, from the peas, boiling and gently put in 2 eggs. I wasn't gentle enough and one slightly cracked, oh well.

Potatoes are done! Welcome to the fridge.

While the eggs cook, mix the yogurt, mustard, chopped ginger and garlic, salt, pepper, and chili powder together. Taste it? Modify it as you like, but when you are content, just stick it in the fridge.

Potatoes, Carrots, Peas, and Eggs are cooked and cooled? Great.

Cut 'em up. I like to keep them the same shape, but who really cares. just dice them into bite size pieces. do the same with the olives, onion and pickles. now toss in the chopped parsley and toss it together. 

Dont mix the faux mayo with the veggies until you are ready to serve. If you keep them separate, the salad can stay in your fridge for a few days. If you have some of the sauce leftover you could make an egg salad for lunch! Oh the endless possibilities when one has a fridge to call one's own.

My Indian roommate loved it! I loved it! and so it is decided...I will be making another bigger, badder batch on Friday to serve to my guests on Saturday.