This salad is a mix of textures and flavours: crispy, creamy paneer with sweet mango and golden shallots with tart tamarind – all strewn atop a bed of fresh leaves and herbs. Semi-ripe mangoes are best for this salad.T

Serves 4 
For the dressing
2cm piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped 
1 green chilli 
Salt
Juice of 1 lime 
1 tbsp honey 
Rapeseed oil

For the salad
500g paneer, diced into 1.5cm cubes
200g banana shallots (or 4 big ones)
2 x large mangoes, peeled and cut into 1.5cm cubes
2 tsp tamarind paste
120g mixed leaves
15g mint leaves, chopped
20g fresh coriander, chopped

1 To make the salad dressing, add the ginger and chilli to a pestle and mortar along with ¼ teaspoon salt. Bash until the chilli and ginger have broken down, completely then add the lime juice, honey and 2 tablespoons of rapeseed oil. Mix and set aside.

2 Heat a large pan on a high heat, and add about 2 tbsp oil. When hot, fry the paneer, turning the pieces frequently to brown them on all sides. Watch out as the paneer might spit; half cover with a lid to protect yourself if so. When golden and crispy, transfer to a paper-towelled dish.

3 Add the shallots to the same pan (adding more oil to cook if needed) and cook for around 6-8 minutes until soft and starting to brown. Then add the paneer back in alongside the mango, tamarind paste and ¾ teaspoon salt. Stir to mix and take off the heat.

4 In a serving bowl, add the leaves and chopped herbs and, just before serving, tip in the paneer and mango mixture and the salad dressing. Toss together and serve with warm naan or a good bread.