Here’s a simple cucumber salad that’s beyond ordinary. Inspired by cool and refreshing Indian-style cucumber salads — or kachumber salads — this recipe is super-tasty and intensely crave-able. And (big plus), it takes about 10 minutes to make!
Reader review:
“This was perfect and delicious! I wanted a different cucumber salad for the cucumbers that are growing in my garden. I was going to a party with my Indian friends who love spice and this hit the spot. This will surely be added to my rotation. Thank you so much!!”
~PINKY
- Taste: By combining just a few spices (chili, cumin and black mustard seeds) plus fresh citrus, peanuts and grated unsweetened coconut, this salad comes to life in a big way.
Our usual go-to salads with cucumber nod toward Mediterranean flavors. They’re most often a simple cucumber salad with ripe tomatoes and feta cheese. This salad adds in some spice and coconut, turning the flavor profile to South Asia.
Indian-style cucumber salad
Kachumber (pronounced Kah-Chum-Bur) refers to cucumber salads in Indian cuisine. They can contain ingredients like chili, tomato, onion and also spices like cumin.
This recipe gives you that dynamic range of flavor, and it’s east to make! Along with the naturally sweet coconut, you get a nice variety of texture.
There’s the crunch of chopped roasted peanuts, the heat of chili pepper and nutty-tasting popped brown mustard seeds and cumin.
Best cucumbers for salad
- Persian cucumbers: These mini cucumbers have become my favorite variety. They are becoming more widely available in most grocery stores, and are great for snacking and all kinds of salad recipes. Also called “burpless” cucumber, they’re small and practically seedless, with a delicate skin that doesn’t need peeling.
- English cucumbers, also called Hothouse or seedless cucumbers are also great for this salad.
Depending on the size of your cucumber, the seeds will be more or less developed. If you think they’re too seedy, they’re easily scooped out with a spoon.
Make Indian cucumber salad:
There are a few steps to follow for this salad, starting with the cucumber.
- Slicing the cucumber: The best way to slice cucumber is to cut them into chunky, bite-size pieces (so they don’t become too soggy) First halve them lengthwise. If you’re using anything other than a Persian cucumber, remove the seeds by running a spoon down the middle. Slice each half in half again, then slice crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces.
- Put the cucumber in a serving bowl and toss with chili, peanuts and finely grated unsweetened coconut.
- Sprinkle with fresh lemon or lime juice, sugar and salt and toss gently
- Quickly fry brown mustard seeds, cumin seed and more of the coconut in a small skillet in hot oil, then pour over the salad and toss.
