Mexican corn salad (esquites)

Ingredients for 2 small portions (limited by how much corn you can char in one pan):

• 400g frozen corn
• olive oil
• 10g garlic (about 2 cloves)
• 0.25 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder

• 80g yoghurt
• 1 lime
• 0.25 teaspoon salt
• 10 twists of black pepper

• 1 green chilli
• 40g red onion
• pitas

Methods:

• Defrost the corn and pat it dry with a kitchen towel.
• Preheat a large pan on high heat with a bit of olive oil. Spread the corn in the pan into an even layer. Without stirring, char the corn kernels on high heat.
• Meanwhile, make the dressing - zest a lime; in a large bowl mix yoghurt with the juice of a lime, lime zest, salt and black pepper.
• Dice the onion and the green chilli.
• Once the corn starts charring, into the pan add chilli powder and the garlic through a garlic press. Add a tiny splash of water to deglaze the pan, stir and give it a minute until the garlic smells really nice. Don’t give your corn too much time in the pan, or it will dry out.
• Add the corn into the dressing and mix well. Add onion and green chilli.
• Serve with toasted pitas.

Inspired by: Brian Lagerstrom

Note: If you have corn on the cob, it is more fun to eat it whole. Place 2 undressed corn cobs into a Dutch oven with water on rolling boil (they must be fully submerged). Cover with the lid and immediately remove from heat. They’ll be ready to eat in about 15min, but can linger in warm water for longer. See Dan Souza’s explanation. Make a spice mix by combining salt, Kashmiri chilli powder and lime powder (or mango powder or citric acid powder). Serve corn cobs covered in butter and spice mix.