A vegetarian replacement for som tum thai from our local thai restaurant.

• 3 tbsp roasted hazelnuts (should be peanuts but allergies)
• 2-6 whole bird’s eye chillis, depending on degree of bravery
• 12 French beans, cut into 1cm lengths
• 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 lime cut into wedges,
• 275g green papaya (about 1 medium fruit)
• 1/4 white cabbage, shredded
• 2 shallots, finely chopped

Dressing:

• 1 tbsp tamarind water
• 5cm fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tsp coriander seed, crushed
• 4 sticks lemongrass, trimmed and finely chopped
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp brown sugar

Put a small frying pan on a medium-high heat. Toast the nuts until browned, then tip out, roughly chop and set aside.

Crush  two thirds of the nuts to a rough paste. Add the chillies and merely bruise (unless you want it really spicy, in which case pound away).

Add the beans, tomatoes and lime wedges to the mortar and roughly bruise with the pestle, then scoop the lot out into a bowl (unless you have a very large pestle and mortar in which case you can leave them in).

Peel the papaya and cut into narrow matchsticks; a julienne peeler or mandoline is ideal, but you can use a sharp knife if not. Add the shredded cabbage. Working in batches if necessary, lightly bruise in the pestle and mortar then add to the bowl.

Mix the dressing ingredients together in the mortar until the sugar has dissolved, then taste; it should be a balance of sour, salty and sweet. Adjust as necessary.

Toss the dressing and the salad ingredients together, making sure the nut paste is well distributed, and sprinkle with the remaining nuts before serving.