This pumpkin salad is super quick but super healthy and delicious! It’s customisable depending on your preference of zataar or dukkah and is great for impressing a late night date. 😘
Ingredients – serves 2
4 slices of pumpkin, one inch thick
2 small or 1 large beetroot, cubed
1 tomato, diced
1 small Lebanese cucumber, diced
1/2 an avocado, diced
Spinach and/or rocket
4 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds
Zataar or Dukkah of your choice
Dressings
1 tablespoon of tahini
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Pinch of salt and pepper
Pomegranate molasses
Method
Pumpkin:
Heat your oven or air fryer to 200 degrees C.
Rub a little olive oil onto the sliced pumpkin and beetroot cubes, and place them in the oven on a tray lined with baking paper.
Check them after 10 minutes- Flip them and poke them with a small knife to test if they’ve softened. They will cook faster in the air fryer.
Once the pumpkin is almost finished (softer, some colour) bring the tray out. Move the beetroot to a bowl if it’s cooked.
Rub a little extra olive oil onto the pumpkin slices and spoon over your Zataar. Gently press it into the pumpkin with the back of the spoon to make it stick.
Put the pumpkin back into the oven for a few minutes until it has finished cooking and the Zataar has toasted a little.
Salad:
Assemble your salad; leaves as the base, then sprinkle your tomato, cucumber and avocado evenly on top to make a bed for your pumpkin.
Put a small frypan on medium heat. Add pumpkin seeds and toast them, tossing regularly. Remove from heat when golden.
Dressing:
In a small bowl, mix the tahini, lemon juice and salt and pepper together with a spoon. The mixture will seize at first, keep mixing.
If it needs to be thinner, depending on the size of your lemon, you can add more lemon juice or a little water and keep mixing until it’s thin enough to drizzle. Taste it for seasoning and add more if required.
Final Assembly:
Place two slices of pumpkin on each salad bed.
Drizzle tahini dressing evenly over each salad, then pomegranate molasses over each salad as well.
Sprinkle pumpkin seeds on top of each salad.
🥰🎃✨
Notes:
I prefer to cook this in the air fryer even if all four slices of pumpkin don’t fit at once. I will often cook 2 at a time because it still ends up faster than the oven, and just pop the first batch of pumpkin back in the air fryer for a minute before serving to warm them up again. 🙂
Tweak the tahini dressing as you please. I like mine quite lemony which helps cut the sweetness of the pomegranate molasses.
Only ranking laksas from Malaysian restaurants, not other cuisines or fusion restaurants. Updated for 2025.
My criteria for a great laksa are:
Eggplant. It’s my number one topping; if it isn’t your favourite too, I’m calling the police 😅 Big points lost if the laksa is missing fried eggplant!
Spicy but edible.
Hot soup temperature.
Tofu puffs are better than solid cubes.
Two kinds of noodle – vermicelli and a thicker yellow noodle
Some vegetables but not soggy and overcooked! Ie. Broccoli, beans, bean sprouts.
Fried onions and shallots.
Good soup creaminess, depth of flavour and viscosity. Not too thin and watery.
Bonuses: half an egg, sambal/chilli paste, spinach, herbs like mint.
Since I order vegetable laksa, I would be absolutely thrilled if they added vegan fish cakes to the laksa since they taste almost identical, but I haven’t seen it yet. I use them in my homemade laksa though as they’re available in the freezer at many Asian grocers 🙂
Oddities and too many vegetable fillers: carrot, cabbage, tinned or raw mushrooms, tinned baby corn, cauliflower, tomato- (truth be told, I don’t mind some of these in moderation but I’m being a stickler for this review).
Bottom of the Bunch:
Super Ming, Thornbury (Closed down)
One of the newcomers to the northern block, Super Ming’s laksa is pretty good. Some nice spice, beans, tofu puffs and a creamy, tangy, oily broth. Unfortunately, the laksa contains only vermicelli noodles and I’m disappointed that cauliflower is present but eggplant isn’t… They sell eggplant as an entree so we bought it and divided it between us so we could all have eggplant with our laksa, but it adds a $3-4 per bowl which isn’t great. I’d rather it was included.
Pappa Rich, Northcote/CBD
The laksa at Pappa Rich is nice and unique in a few ways! Not exactly everything you’re looking for in a laksa but tasty. Their eggplant is lightly coated before being deep-fried so it has a deeper flavour and a squelchy but firm texture to the outside; love it. There are plenty of tofu puffs and skin, as well as bean shoots and some tomato which I’ve come to enjoy. The soup is creamy, not too spicy but flavourful enough. Would love a green vegetable in there.. It’s also is pretty consistent across different stores.
Malaymas, Northcote
With its fairly light and creamy broth, the Malaymas laksa still delivers some good flavour and the temp was hot enough. The tofu puffs and mint were much appreciated. Downsides, the eggplant tastes pretty boiled- I prefer when it has been fried and has a deeper, saltier flavour that separates it from the rest of the vegetables, and there’s a mix of veggies here akin to the contents of a red curry: baby corn, bamboo, cabbage, carrot, capsicum. Serving size is a little small and I’d like the broth to be spicier and thicker. Still, it’s definitely a tasty and adequate laksa.
Middle of the Pack- Good Options:
Sutsa Malaysian Kitchen, Preston
I appreciate having this place in the north! Creamy, hot soup with good spice, appropriate veggies and a generous amount of fried eggplant. After a really hard weekend, I cried while eating this because I was so grateful for it. Feel like that’s a sign that it’s a great laksa.
Laksa King, Flemington
With lots of noodles and a large bowl, this laksa is filling with few strange additions like raw mushrooms. I ran out of soup and the tofu are cubes, not puffs.. It’s a popular spot and they take last orders pretty late which is nice but they are absurdly busy sometimes and you might have to wait over an hour for a table even on a weeknight. Overrated compared to Chef Lagenda next door, in my opinion. The soup is tasty but isn’t crazy rich, delicious or as exciting as it could be. Would love a bit more spice, but it is a great laksa for a reasonable price.
Mayala, Richmond (Closed down)
Broke my heart when you closed down, Malaya!!! Really f-ing good laksa with a thick, flavourful soup. Ahhhh 😦
Laksa Garden, Hawthorn
I’d say this is a very good laksa. Nice spice and temperature. Flavour could have some more depth but it’s very enjoyable regardless. The tofu are somewhere between puffs and cubes and have a delicious soft centre. Appropriate veggies, price, size. Chopped herbs on top. Great asset to the east side of town!
Runner up:
Chef Lagenda, Flemington
A popular place, the laksa at Chef Lagenda is tasty and an excellent choice; my sister’s favourite and my second favourite. The soup is solid, flavourful, oily, spicy enough and creamy, the eggplant is generous which is a huge draw card for me. The tofu is fairly soft inside which is enjoyable and the vegetables are plentiful and al dente. Numerous pieces of zucchini and snow peas under there, too. And very affordable.
THE BEAST. THE WINNER. THE CLEAR LEADER:
Malaysian Laksa House, CBD
Now this is a freaking laksa!! This is the best laksa I have ever had in Melbourne (and I’ve had it about 50 times). Delicious tasty soup, fried eggplant, tofu puffs, large serving, beans, spinach, broccoli, two types of noodles and bonus fried egg and sambal! It’s affordable, too. I love this laksa. It honestly shits on every the other laksa in the entire city and has been my favourite for years for good reason. 🙂 I hope that Malaysian Laksa House survives the cost of living crisis and can continue serving this awesome soup to hungry patrons for years to come. Everyone go support them! 🙂 They’re on Elizabeth street in Melbourne CBD. And please don’t complain that the customer service is short n sharp. They’re busy! Just enjoy your laksa and be on your way.
Muggle Chef 