Mumbai Chef Vicky Ratnani Exoticizes Tandoori Pineapple Caesar Salad

Summary: Mumbai Chef Vicky Ratnani exoticizes Tandoori Pineapple Caesar Salad with cherry tomatoes, a romaine-sorrel blend, pineapple slices and spiced yogurt.

North Indian Chef Vicky Ratnani, who constructs his recipes with fresh ingredients, poses with onions at Koyambedu Wholesale Market Complex, western Chennai, northeastern Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India: Vicky Ratnani, via Facebook March 13, 2021

Mumbai Chef Vicky Ratnani exoticizes Tandoori Pineapple Caesar Salad with cherry tomatoes and spiced yogurt-slathered pineapple slices on a colorful salad base of romaine lettuce and sorrel leaves.

Italian immigrant restauranteur Cesare "Caesar" Cardini (Feb. 24, 1896-Nov. 3, 1956) is credited with creating the now world-famous Caesar Salad. He introduced his salad in 1924 in his restaurant, Caesar's Restaurant, housed in Hotel Caesar in Tijuana, Baja California state, northwestern Mexico.

Apart from anchovy flecks in Worcestershire sauce, Caesar's salad premiered as a vegetarian salad. Caesar Salad's subsequent global popularity has inspired vegan, non-vegetarian and vegetarian variations of the original recipe.

Chef Vicky introduces Tandoori Pineapple Caesar Salad as ". . . one of my favorite. . ." The recipe represents trendy fusion cuisine, which fuses elements from diverse culinary traditions to create new recipes. Combining fresh fruits with tandoori masala yields a nuanced, desi (Sanskrit देश, deśá, "land, country") variation of Caesar Salad and expands tandoori masala beyond the marinade's traditional association with chicken. Tandoori masala (Hindi: मसाला, masālā, "spices") designates the yogurt-based spice blend used in the Indian subcontinent's traditional cooking with a tandoor (Hindi: तन्दूर, tandūr), a clay oven.

Chef Vicky's vegetarian recipe begins with pineapples. He places four slices in a bowl.

Then he sprinkles tandoori masala on top of the pineapple slices. He does not specify the blend of masala. Tandoori masala consists of a variety of spices. Its spice profile features coriander, cumin and turmeric as staples.

He adds chopped parsley and then chopped coriander. He next sprinkles salt and black pepper.

The spices need to be mixed into the pineapple slices. He coats the fruit with the spices by redistributing the slices and rubbing the fruit into the mixture.

He mixes yogurt into the spiced pineapple slices. Combining yogurt with spices validates the sauce as tandoori masala.

The next step calls for pan-searing the pineapple slices. He sets aside the fruit and squirts olive oil into a frying pan. He notes that the oil needs to be hot for the pineapple slices.

While the pan heats, he prepares the salad base. He combines torn romaine lettuce leaves with sorrel (Rumex acetosa) leaves. Chef Vicky expresses his affinity for using sorrel in salads because their red-veined leaves look "very, very pretty on the plate ."

He sets the salad aside and takes a momentary break to sip Fuze Tea. He explains that stocking the cooking area with "something refreshing" helps for cooling down in a hot kitchen.

The oil is sizzling, so he grips the pineapple slices with tongs for transport into the pan. He cautions against cooking the slices. Rather, the objective is to create a nice coating of the masala through quick searing. The seared pineapple slices then are set individually, via tongs, in a flat bowl.

The next step entails making the dressing. He spoons two large dollops of low-fat mayonnaise into the dressing bowl. He announces the dressing's fusion with other flavors. He half-fills the spoon twice with Dijon mustard. Then he sprinkles salt and black pepper. Next he adds finely chopped garlic, coriander and parsley.

Chef Vicky stirs the dressing well. Then he adds squirts of olive oil and red wine vinegar and stirs all ingredients well. He describes the dressing now as having "a lot of flavor" with "a very nice rich garlicky mustardy parsley" taste.

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

North Indian Chef Vicky Ratnani, who constructs his recipes with fresh ingredients, poses with onions at Koyambedu Wholesale Market Complex, western Chennai, northeastern Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India: Vicky Ratnani, via Facebook March 13, 2021, @ https://www.facebook.com/chefvickyratnani/posts/3871657616216789/Bangalorean Chef Shazia Khan, first runner-up in the second season (Oct. 22, 2011-Jan. 1, 2012) of MasterChef India, conducts cooking demonstrations and culinary workshops, in person and via media, in her hometown and afar: Anjali Reddy J, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shazia_Khan.jpg

Chef Vicky Ratnani, "How To Make Tandoori Pineapple Caesar's Salad / Vicky's World," via YouTube Dec. 27, 2015, @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kfM0OR0uoI

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