Kachumbar refers to an incredibly popular and simple salad from India. Typically in Indian meals, salad forms part of an accompaniment unlike a course. Kachumbar saladis had alongside the main meal. In course of the meal a common practice is to have a curry using a bit of the Indian bread and picking up some bit of the salad in the same bite too.
History of Kachumbar
Kachumbar saladis believed to have been formed from a connotation from Hindi, where Kacha stands for ‘Raw/uncooked’. It comprises exactly tiny little bits of uncooked vegetables. During olden times, Kachumbar comprised of onions that were finely chopped along with Kakri or Cucumber. At times, grated Mooli or the radish was included in Kachumbar recipe. The chopped uncooked vegetables were made to rest for allowing the flavors to blend in. The dressing was usually simple comprising lime juice or sugar cane vinegar.
Ingredients Used and Popular Methods of Preparation of Kachumbar
Kachumbar recipe uses sliced tomatoes, peeled and finely diced cucumber, finely diced onion, finely chopped green chili, some coriander sprigs or cilantro leaves, sugar, salt and lemon juice.
The tomatoes, onion and cucumber are tossed together. Thereafter green chili, salt, sugar, coriander leaves and lemon juice are added and mixed well. The salad is served chilled. It makes a fabulous accompaniment alongside curries.
Popular Kachumbar Variations
Barley and Corn Kachumbar saladis rich in fibre content having crispy texture due to the sweet corn. The salad gets colorful due to the presence of yellow capsicum, red capsicum and spring onions.
Spicy Kachumbar is a chatpata Kachumbar recipe in Indian lingo that is spruced up with chilli powder and cumin. Vitamin A and Vitamin C are two vital nutrients yielded out of this spicy Kachumbar. It must be served chilled alongside Brown Rice and Dhan-Saak Dal.
Kachumbar recipe variations can also contain ingredients including green onion, daikon, radishes red onion, mint leaves, tamarind concentrate, ginger or lime juice.
Serving and Eating Kachumbar
Kachumbar salad, also written cachumbar or kachumbar, mostly stands for "chop chop salad". It is a combination of onions, raw vegetables and chiles along with lemon juice and certain spices. Although it is similar to salsa in appearance looks it contains more onions and much more heat than salsa. In the normal recipe, salsa has tomato base, while in the Indian variation, lemon and onion make the foundation of the flavor. It is rightly refreshing as it can cut along the weight of Indian dishes.