Russian Potato Salad

Russian Potato Salad

This is of the most common dishes from Russia you are bound to name when you think about Russian food. This easy to prepare, substantial, one plate wonder can be your saviour on a busy week night or a lazy afternoon. Highly nutritious meal will be a sure shot favourite with the kids. This dish originally uses Picked dills, which I omitted because they are not very common in India, you can use them, if you get them in a supermarket shelf.

Preparation time  : 30 minutes

Cooking time       :  20 minutes

Difficulty              : Very Easy

Serves                  : 4

Ingredients:

600 grams of Potatoes, peeled, boiled and cubed (using Pressure cooker will save time)

2 Eggs, hard boiled (start boiling them along with the potatoes)

200 grams of Cocktail Sausages (or other similar)

1/2 cup Fresh Peas or 1 cup frozen peas, cooked if desired

1 medium Onion finely chopped

1 large Carrot, diced, cooked if desired

1 tablespoon Capers, drained (These are easily available at all big food stores)

3/4 cup Mayonnaise 

1/4 cup Sour Cream (Mix 1/4 cup of Fresh cream to 1/4 cup of Hung, beaten Curd and mix well, if you don't get sour cream)

1 tablespoon Prepared Mustard, ( Mix a teaspoon of water to 1 tablespoon of Weikfields Mustard powder)

2 teaspoons Fresh Lime Juice

Salt to taste

Freshly ground Black pepper

1/2 teaspoon Dried Dill (optional for garnish, available bottled) or 1 teaspoon snipped Fresh Dill (This is also known as Bishop's weed)

Fresh Lettuce leaves, washed and dried (optional for serving)

Fresh Parsley leaves (optional for garnish)

1 large ripe Tomato, cut into small wedges (optional for garnish)

Pinch of Paprika or Red Chili powder (optional for garnish)

Method : 

1) Boil potatoes in water until tender, or in a Pressure cooker with two whistles; let cool.

2) During that time drop in eggs to cold water;  bring to boil and let boil for 10 minutes.

3) Add cocktail sausages in boiling water for last 5 minutes or so, drain and let cool and then chop.

4) Do not forget to shock the eggs with cold or ice water, or you'll never get the shells off; separate egg whites from yolks, mash yolks, chop 1 egg white and thinly slice other for garnish if desired.

5) In a large bowl, combine potatoes, sausages (chopped), peas, onion, carrot, capers and chopped egg white.

6 ) In a smaller bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, lemon juice, and mashed egg yolks; season with salt and pepper to taste.

7) Gently combine dressing with potato mixture and chill until serving time.

8) If desired, serve on a bed of lettuce, surrounded by tomatoes, and egg white slices; sprinkle with fresh or dried dill, fresh parsley, and paprika, or any combination you like.

9) You can serve this with warm crusty breads to make a full meal out of this.