Russian Salad : New Year Special

The original “Russian salad” was supposedly invented by a French chef named Lucien Olivier at the Hermitage Restaurant in Moscow, Russia around the 1860′s.
It is a tasty traditional dish of the russian cuisine, which was also known as the "Salad Genoa Style" , served as one of the main courses at the gala lunches of the Ligurian aristrocracy.
With all its different versions, the Russian salad is basically made of
vegetables and mayonnaise, it is consumed in many countries,
and it can be served as an appetizer, even if it is usually prepared for festive season, such as Christmas and new year.
 Here in India in the Army mess, I have always seen the russian salad find it's place in the English menu which goes superbly well with cutlets, baked beans, chicken fried, veg pie and of course dinner rolls.

Ingredients -

Carrot -1/2 cup
Beans -1/2 cup
Green Peas -1/2 cup
Cauliflower -1/2 cup
Apple - 1
Banana - 2
Grapes - 1/2 cup
Mango - 1/2 cup
Papaya - 1/2 cup
Pomegranate - 3 tbsp
Mayonnaise - 4 tbsp (recipe given)
White sauce  - 1/2 cup (recipe given )
Cream   - 1/2 cup

For mayonnaise -

Egg yolk - 2
Salad oil or olive oil - 300 ml
Lemon  - 1/2
Sugar - 1 1/2 tbs
Mustard powder - 1 tsp
White pepper - 1 tsp
Vinegar - 1 tbsp
Cream - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
 
For the white sauce -
Heat 25 g butter then mix 25 g flour and saute it until it is light golden. Pour 1/2 cup of milk stirring it continuously. Spread some white pepper in it and take it off the heat when all are mixed well and it is thick enough for a pouring sauce. Keep it aside.

For the mayonnaise -    
Take the egg yolks and whip it in a blender until its firm and glossy.
Put salt , sugar, mustard powder, white pepper, vinegar, lemon juice and keep mixing it until all are blended well. 
While stil running the blender add the salad oil. Slowly begin to drizzle in the oil, little by little, whilst constantly whisking, making sure that it's fully incorporated before adding more oil.
Adding in the oil too quickly, will stop the ingredients from
emulsifying and will break, or separate.
Blend till thick then stop the blender. Add the fresh cream in it and run the blender again for few seconds or till done.

Method -

1. Cut all the vegies in cubes, boil it and drain it in a strainer. Saute it in butter. Take care not to overcook it. It should be crunchy.
2. Cut the fruits also in cube size.
3. Take a big bowl and mix all the fruits (saving some for garnishing) , veggies, mayonnaise, white sauce and the cream
throughly. You can also garnish it with shredded carrot and cabbage if you like and refrigerate it for half an hour before serving.

Note - This Russian salad is a recipe which I came across few years back, at a place where mayonnaise was not readily available . So you can very well use a ready made mayo if you like but this one  certainly is healthy and good from the ubiquitous exposure to the  bottled stuff available in the market.