Sprouts and mixed vegetables salad

In general, I do not recall that they made salad regularly at home. One occasional kosumalli with grated carrots, cucumbers or just soaked, drained and garnished moong dhal were made on festival days. Apart from that we always had cooked vegetables in curries, stir- fries and kootus. Even in my hostel during college and working years it was not on a regular menu. Only when ladies at work used to bring and share home cooked food that we had salads often and with variety.
My husband is not very fond of raw vegetables, while I am very used to eating a cucumber raw and whole. My daughter is somewhere in between on the scale. She would choose to have a salad with select vegetables, and not very often. I have to find days to make a salad because, with just the two of us, I find it difficult to limit portions. If that is the case, how do i ever make such small portions only for myself? However, I try to indulge and make my salads on days that my husband decides to pack extra portions of his breakfast for lunch. I do not cook a meal for myself and make do with a bowl of  anything I fancy.

Likewise, salad dressing was quite new to me for we have always had them with one squeeze of lime juice and salt. Tempering will have mustard seeds and slit green chillis. I was introduced to dressings only from restaurants. In Bahrain, there was a small exclusive to salads and juices outlet in a mall. The assistant there soon got to know that I refuse mayonnaise and would give me other dressing options like cider vinegar or infused olive oil. On one such day I spotted that he had labaneh and asked if he could use it for me. He obliged and I found that creamy texture interesting. Now I play around with the flavours and make curd cheese by hanging the home set curd.
The other day, I found that my vegetable shop had stocked small size raw papayas and bought one to make kootu. But when I cut it, they tasted semi sweet and so I had to give the idea of kootu for another time. I used them in my salad and thus this post.
It also happens that Lisa's  popular No Croutons Required event is being hosted at Lisa's Kicthen and she is asking us to bring raw salads and soups. So this will be my share to go there.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup green gram sprouts
1 small raw papaya peeled and julienned
1 medium carrot peeled and julienned
1 chinese cucumber peeled and julienned
1 large tomato sliced
A fistful of fresh herbs (I have used basil and mint leaves)
Salt to taste
Powdered black pepper corns to taste

For the dressing:
1 cup home set yogurt
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon mixed dry herbs crushed
1/2 teaspoon powdered black pepper corns

Method:
Make the hung curd or curd cheese by bundling the yogurt in a cheese cloth and hanging it to drain the whey.
Once the curd has been removed of the liquid, transfer it to a dish and add the rest of the ingredients listed for the dressing and cream together with a spatula.
To make the green gram sprouts, wash and soak the gram for about eight hours. Drain and transfer them to a casserole. Cover the lid and leave it to sprout overnight.

In a larger bowl, first take a portion of the curd cheese and top it with the vegetables. Toss them to be coated with the cheese. Add the salt and pepper as required.
Keep alternating with curd cheese and vegetables. Finally add the sprouts and gently mix them in.
Top with fresh herbs.

Serve with portions of lime and the curd cheese.
Consume fairly quickly or refrigerate soon after making the salad until required.
This makes a meal for me by itself, but if you are not inspired eating raw vegetables, have this as starter and have a main course with these Quinoa peppers and some Hariyali paneer tikkas.
I would be glad to add this to Priya's event Healthy Me and Heathy Us.