One of my fondest memories of vacations in Kerala is of the Pomelo tree at my grandparents house. My uncles would tie a rope with some thick coconut fronds, tie it to the tree and make a swing for us cousins to play on. When I used to sit on the swing, I used to look up and see these lovely green pomelos or “bamblimoos” fruits swinging on the tree above me. It is such a relaxing and zen-like feeling to swing in the air, as if one were weightless and carefree, surrounded by the lush greenery of Kerala.
Size comparison of the pomelo alongside a big lime.
A pomelo/ pommelo/pamplemousse is a big citrus fruit that kind of looks like a big grapefruit and tastes like one. Pomelos originate from South and Southeast Asia. To read more about selecting and eating pomelos, go here. Also, check out this awesome Wikihow tutorial on how to peel and cut a pomelo here.
I love to eat the segments of these mildly tart, bitter and sweet fruits with sugar 🙂 Another one of my favorites is my mom’s Pomelo salad. This recipe is my adaptation of my mom’s salad recipe and other Vietnamese pomelo salads. It has some lime juice for extra zing, coconut palm sugar to tone down the bitterness and carrots to up the veggie quotient of the recipe. It is vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free but contains peanuts.
Pomelo salad with carrots, coconut, peanuts and a sweet Asian inspired dressing.
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 5 minutes |
| Servings |
servings as a side
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- 1 medium Parmesan cheese peeled, broken down into bite-sized chunks
- 1 or 2 medium Carrots grated
- 1/3 cup Peanuts roasted (optional)
- 1/4 cup Coconut grated
- 1 tablespoon Lime juice
- 1 1/2 tablespoon Peanuts
- 3/4 tablespoon Oil (used low sodium and gluten-free)
- 3 small Green chillies chopped finely
- 3 medium Mustard seeds sliced thinly
- 1 tablespoon Coconut oil
Ingredients
Salad
Salad Dressing
Garnish
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- Peel and cut the pomelo into bite-sized pieces. Grate the carrot and mix it with the pomelo in a bowl.
- In a small pan, toast the grated coconut over low-medium heat for a few minutes until it is lightly browned. Remove the coconut and add to the pomelo and carrot mixture.
- In the same pan, roast the raw peanuts over low-medium heat until slightly browned. Remove from the pan and grind the peanuts into smaller chunks. Add the peanut pieces to the pomelo and carrot mixture. [ See Recipe Notes for info on avoiding peanuts]
- Mix the soy sauce, lime juice, coconut palm sugar and chopped green chillies in a small bowl.
- Pour the dressing over the salad.
- Fry the sliced shallots in coconut oil until browned and crispy. Remove from heat and let it cool.
- Top the salad with the fried shallots and serve.
If you have a peanut allergy or do not like peanuts, you can make this salad without it. Toasted sesame seeds make a good substitute for peanuts.
- Please increase or reduce the amount of green chillies used in the salad as per your taste.
- This salad tastes good when chilled as well so you can make it ahead and pop it into the refrigerator.
- To make a seafood variation of the salad, add pan-fried shrimp to the salad just before serving.
This recipe is linked to Gluten Free Fridays #166 at Vegetarian Mamma.
Looks interesting!
Bethany, it is an interesting mix that sounds weird when you think about the ingredients separately but when combined, it tastes very good. You can even make this salad with grapefruit instead of pomelo and maybe sweeten it a bit more in that case…