Thai Spring Roll with Thai Mango Dipping Sauce

You know that funny fact about some kids in India who have developed American accent but haven’t been to US at all! Yeah it sounds so funny right?! I can’t help but think, “You’ve never been to US and you act as though you lived there your entire life with that accent!” Thanks to all the International schools who force their students to develop and talk in an accent and thanks to the wide variety of foreign programs that kid watch and tend to pick it from there. Daughter too sometimes try to get the accent while talking.  And when we question her, she says “that’s how Ruby talks!” (she is referring to Max and Ruby cartoon program).

So the same kind of funny logic applies to food as well, I guess. Sometimes we say we LOVE “Thai cuisine” but haven’t been to Thailand at all and we hardly know the entire facts and history of that particular cuisine. “You haven’t really experienced Thai food? How could you say you love it?”  If that is the question that comes to mind, bother not much. You simply just enjoy your food. 😀

Restaurants of different cuisine from all over the world in your neighborhood, internet with whole world variety of recipes that you can try in your kitchen, these things facilitates us to experience world cuisine with not much hassle. Of course the real authentic food remains to in its region.

So I have never been to Thailand and honestly I have never eaten Thai food more than once until recently. A few years back I had my first Thai red chicken curry in a restaurant and that’s about it, my brief Thai food experience. But something struck me last month. A lot of pinterest browsing got me into looking for more Thai food, why? I don’t know. I think it’s just attracted me and got me tempted. I gave a shot, with my first ever Thai recipe – Thai Potato Pumpkin Curry. And then I went on to try another Thai recipe, Thai Pumpkin Soup.

While shopping for my weekly vegetables I got a lot of fresh vibrant veggies. I had to pick them up, it was hard to resist fresh veggies anywhere I go. Got some Thai spring rolls and made these fresh summery Thai spring rolls. I am a big sucker for spring rolls, even the fried ones. But it’s hard to get a decent spring rolls and I have tried a lot of Chinese restaurants here. Out of the whole lot, just ONE restaurant served the perfect spring roll, the one that was rolled and fried just perfect, with that perfect amount of crunch and not soaked in oil bath at all.

A spring roll with fresh veggies and not deep fried? Yes please! I can go for a whole plate full.  Thai spring roll with Thai mango dipping sauce was to die for. Not just it looks pretty but tastes to light, fresh and delicious. And that Thai mango dipping sauce – I could go swimming in it. If only the pool was filled with this Thai mango dipping sauce, I would be in it whole day! 😀

Recipe inspired from Halfbakedharvest

Ingredients

1 cup fresh vegetables cut into thin strips ( I used carrots, red capsicum, green zucchini, yellow zucchini, purple cabbage)

6 Thai rice paper

6 leaves lettuce

For Thai mango dipping sauce

1 ripe mango

1 teaspoon crushed

1 fresh red chili (Thai chilies) – add more if you like more spice

1 teaspoon brown sugar

¼ teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon roasted peanuts

1 teaspoon fresh Thai basil

1 teaspoon fresh coriander leaves

½ teaspoon rice vinegar

Method

1. To prepare Thai mango dipping sauce – remove skin on mangoes and cut the pulp into small cubes. Puree it in blend and keep aside. In a food processor put all the ingredients mentioned under the list “For Thai mango dipping sauce” and pulse it. Add the mango puree and pulse again. Remove into a small dipping bowl and keep aside.
2. Dip the rice sheet in warm water for 5 to 10 seconds and remove it immediately. Carefully place it on a flat surface. Place the lettuce leaf first and then start arranging the vegetable strips on one side of the sheet and on one top of the other. Then carefully start rolling the sheets, lift the sides of the sheet and roll, tuck the 2 sides inside as you roll, roll as tight as possible without ripping the paper. It may take a few tries but you should get the hang of it after the second one.
3. Once rolled place the rolls covered in aluminum foil to keep the rolls from drying out.
4. Repeat the same process for all the sheets.
5. Serve immediately with Thai mango dipping sauce