Kachumber Salad | Indian Salad
Updated: February 16, 2022, By Swasthi
Kachumber, an everyday Indian salad made with cucumbers, onions, tomatoes and fresh herbs. Kachumber salad is a staple in many Indian homes & is made to serve as a side with their everyday meals. The fresh raw veggies are cooling to the body and help to tone down the heat of the spicy curries. This simple salad is almost there in every special Indian meal, it be a restaurant buffet or a wedding meal.
In restaurants, Professional chefs julienne the veggies so beautifully exhibiting their skills. But for the taste, we love the homemade one more. The colorful veggies look & taste so good with a refreshing lemon flavor. In this post I share with you how to make this with ease at home.
We make kachumber quite often and I always fine chop the vegetables to bite sized for convenience. You can also julienne them. It also goes well in sandwiches, burgers & even in wraps/rolls. It is an oil-free salad and is just dressed with fresh lemon juice & salt.
If you are newbie and learning to cook Indian, then do try this simple salad to perk up the nutrition of your meal. Chopping is the only task here which can be easily done while you cook your curry or dal.
Here I have used only onions, tomatoes & cucumber but veggies like radish, carrots and beets also go well. The last 3 veggies are best julienned instead of being chopped. There is nothing better than a fresh salad in your meal, so try and use fresh & young vegetables here.
Photo Guide
How to Make Kachumber (Stepwise photos)
1. Rinse cucumbers, onions and tomatoes under running water. I prefer to sprinkle some sea salt, and spray vinegar over the salad veggies, peeled onion & rest them for 5 minutes. Rub and then rinse them off under running water.
2. I do the same with the rest – lemon, green chilies and coriander leaves. Fill a bowl with clean water and rinse the coriander leaves well. Change the water in the bowl and repeat a few times.
3. Chop or julienne all the veggies. You may peel the cucumbers if you want. Since mine had thin skin, so I preferred to keep them. Add all of them to a bowl.
4. Then add some lemon juice, salt & ground black pepper. Taste test and add more as needed. Add lemon and salt only when you are ready to serve. Do not rest the salad after adding salt and lemon as the veggies will let out moisture.
5. Add little red chilli powder (optional). My Mom always made a spice mix with roasted red chilies, roasted cumin and garlic to sprinkle on this. I use the same. It is super flavorful with hints of heat and pungent flavors. If you don’t like plain kachumber, you can do the same.
Serve kachumber right away with an Indian meal.
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Recipe Card
Kachumber Salad | Indian Salad
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 250 grams cucumbers
- 150 grams tomatoes (2 medium)
- 50 grams onions (1 medium)
- 1 green chili (deseeded and chopped)
- ¼ teaspoon Himalayan salt (or any, adjust to taste)
- ½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder (roasted jeera powder)
- ¼ teaspoon crushed black pepper (or ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder)
- ⅛ teaspoon red chilli powder (for garnish)
- 1 small lemon (adjust to taste)
- ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves
Instructions
- Sprinkle little sea salt and vinegar over cucumbers, peeled onions, tomatoes, coriander leaves, green chilies and lemon. Leave them for 5 minutes, rub and rinse them (except coriander leaves) well under running water. This step removes any pesky substances over the salad veggies.
- Pat them dry with kitchen tissues or air dry them for a while.
- Add coriander leaves to a bowl of water and rinse them, changing water a few times. Place them on a kitchen tissue or colander to remove excess moisture.
- We don't want any moisture on the veggies.
- Julienne or chop all the vegetables to bite sizes. If you want you may peel the cucumbers (optional) & deseed before chopping. Add them to a mixing bowl.
- Chop coriander leaves and add them too. When you are ready to serve the kachumber, sprinkle salt and lemon juice. Mix it.
- Transfer to serving bowls and garnish kachumber with black pepper, cumin powder and red chilli powder.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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Comments
The recipe calls for lemon, but it’s a lime in all of the photos. What should it be?
You can use any one of them
This salad was delightful, a bright and fresh contrast to accompany a stewed curry dish. I’ll definitely make it again!
this was hit with my American guests along with chicken biryani and kebab. Thank you.
Very easy and quick recipe. I make this when I’m bored with regular salads. Thanks
Simple. Quick. A cooling side to a spicy main.
Hi Swasthi,
Had this tonight as an accompaniment to
Lahore Chargha with Roti and raita. I like the touch of spice from the mix and the green chilli. I used a Bullet chilli.
Lovely recipe again. Thank you.
Paul.
Hi Paul,
That’s a lovely meal! Chargha also goes very well with saffron or turmeric rice and raita. Thank you for trying my kachumber.
One problem: ingredients mentioned in the instructions that are not on the ingredient list, e.g. vinegar, and green chilis.
Thanks for letting me know about the chili. Vinegar is not part of the recipe and is just used to clean the veggies
Super quick and easy, very healthy, and so tasty with just enough spice.
Thank you! Love Indian cuisine. Made kachumber with dal fry. Delicious
I head over to your blog for any dish I want to make. This was so fast and easy.