Kachumber Salad
This is a great salad accompaniment to any rich, spicy Indian curry. Full of crunchy and delicious flavours from the fresh vegetables and herbs. Many of you may recognise this salad more as a cucumber and tomato salad but traditionally the Indian name is Kachumber.
For the purists who love to chop, this salad can be made by hand but for simplicity and speed, I wash, roughly chop all the vegetables to an even size and then WHIZZ them all up with the vinegar and spices in a food processor, until I have the required texture I am after (really only takes a couple of seconds or so). Do not over pulse or you will have soup!
Serve chilled with your favourite meat, bread or curry.
Ingredients
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1 small red onion- finely chopped
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6-8 cherry tomatoes- chopped small
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1 large cucumber- or 4 small Lebanese, peeled and chopped
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1 red chilli- chopped (remove seeds to reduce heat if preferred)
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Handful of fresh coriander- chopped
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2tbsp fresh mint- chopped
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Large pinch of sea salt
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Coarsely ground black pepper- generous amount
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¼ tsp dried chilli flakes- optional
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1 capful cider vinegar
Instructions
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By hand:
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01 Using a sharp knife chop all the ingredients evenly and place into a large mixing bowl. Add all other ingredients, season and mix well.
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By food processor:
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02 Quickly pre-cut all the ingredients so uniform in size, and place ALL into a food processor. Add the seasonings, vinegar etc and PULSE quickly using the cutting blade until all are roughly chopped, cut into small pieces and evenly mixed. DO NOT OVER PULSE.
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03 Tip everything into a clean serving bowl, cover with cling film and leave in the fridge until required.
Notes
This versatile salad accompaniment can have other flavours; Add a generous pinch of kala namak (Indian Sulfur black salt) or ¼ tsp or more of chaat masala to give a different taste. It is possible to use lemon juice instead of cider vinegar and ½ tsp roasted ground cumin or coriander powder for a slightly different flavour. It is also possible to add plain yogurt (or non dairy yoghurt) with ½ tsp ground cumin to turn the recipe into a 'Raita' style yoghurt dip.
