Kachumber – An Indian salsa from Parsi cuisine

While Kachumber can mean any Indian salad, essentially a few salad vegetables, finely sliced and served with a wedge of lemon, the Kachumber recipe here is a quintessentially Parsi salad or salsa that is served along with a main dish like dhansak and rice.  Kachumber consists of finely chopped cucumber, tomatoes and onions, tossed in some salt and vinegar and allowed to marinade in this for at least 2 hours before serving. It provides a much needed freshness and zing to the heavy main course dishes like a Dhansak.

I serve this along with a Vegetable Dhansak and a Parsi Brown Rice to make an elegant main course for a lunch or dinner party or a leisurely weekend brunch. I use Cider Vinegar for this Kachumber, but you can experiment with whatever vinegar you have handy.

Kachumber - An Indian salsa from Parsi cuisine

Kachumber is a quintessentially Parsi salad or salsa that is served along with a main dish like dhansak and rice. A super refreshing condiment that goes well with any Indian meal

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Prep Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs

Servings: 4 serving

Course: condiments

Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 cup Cucumber , peeled and finely chopped
• 3/4 cup onions Finely chopped
• 1/2 cup tomatoes Deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 - 2 green chilli Fresh
• handful Coriander leaves
• 2 tbsps Cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Black pepper powder

Method

 

1. In a large bowl, add all the vegetables.
2. Finely mince the green chilli and add to the vegetables.
3. Finely chop coriander leaves, and add to the bowl along with vinegar, salt and pepper. Using a spoon, toss well until everything is well combined.
4. Cover and keep aside for a minimum of 2 hours, or for longer in the refrigerator.
5. Serve along with a Dhansak and Rice, or as a condiment to accompany any Indian meal.

Notes

The addition of vinegar and allowing the flavours to develop over a couple of hours is what differentiates it from other regular Indian kachumber salads that are just mixed and served immediately. It is not very different from a Pico De Gallo in Mexican cuisine that uses lemon juice instead.

Veg Dhansak / Vegetarian Parsi Dhansak

Dhansak is a delicious Parsi dish made using a mix of lentils (dhan) and vegetables (sakh). My vegetarian version comes with the stamp of approval from my Parsi friends 🙂 You must try this!
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