Simple, quick Indian Onion Salad recipe made with raw onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, and simple seasonings. Healthy and delicious Indian vegetable salad recipe, perfect as a side dish for curries.
The best Indian onion salad for poppadoms and you can create it at home with minimum ingredients. This dish is one of my favourite Indian side dishes and I serve it together with both homestyle and restaurant-style curries like Garlic Chilli Chicken Curry, Homestyle Chicken Handi, Lamb Balti, etc.
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What is Indian Style Onion Salad?
It is also known as Kachumbar, an everyday Indian tomato and onion salad with vegetables and fresh herbs. You can pair this dish with any Indian curries, biryani, pilau, kebabs, etc. Fresh raw vegetables and herbs balanced out the heat of hot curries and freshen up the taste bud. Adding salad and side dishes brings more texture and flavour to the dinner tables.
My grandad was originally from India and he taught me how to make this kachumber. He usually added onions, shredded carrots, cucumber, green chilies, and mint leaves, and seasoned it with lime juice, plain yoghurt, and salt. Kachumber with yoghurt really goes well with biryani. But in this recipe, I am not adding yoghurt.
Why do we love this recipe?
This onion salad Indian style is fast and budget-friendly that is suitable for both vegetarians and vegans. Plus, gluten-free, nut-free, oil-free, dairy-free, and keto-friendly too! No cooking process is needed. All you need is to chop up all the vegetables and squeeze fresh lime juice. Simply add a pinch of salt to season the salad. There is no exact same ingredients and methods to make it, you can customize the veggies and seasonings to your preference.
If you are finding the easiest side dishes to pair with your curries, this is the right recipe for you!
What do we need
You will need onions and your choice of salad vegetables, herbs, lime juice, and salt to taste. Following is a quick guide and you can find detailed instructions on the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Onions - Recommend adding salad onions, red onions, Asian shallots, or baby shallots.
- Tomatoes - I used cherry tomatoes, you can add salad tomatoes or ripened vine tomatoes.
- Cucumber - Add any crisp fresh cucumber that is available at your local stores. I love to add British cucumber or small snack cucumbers.
- Mint leaves - it has a sweet, cooling, fresh taste which is ideal for this recipe.
- Coriander - the fresh citrusy, lemony flavour of coriander is perfect for any Indian salad and curries.
- Green chilies - Hot green finger chilies are perfect for Indian salad. Mild red chilli pepper or Thai bird-eye chilli can be also added.
- Salt - Add your favourite fine salt, sea salt, black salt, pink Himalayan salt, or kosher salt.
How to make it in 10 minutes?
Wash and dry the vegetables - Rise the vegetables with plenty of water to remove any dirt or sand.
Cut the vegetables & herbs - Cut the onions, and cucumber into small same-size half-centimeter cubes. Cut the cherry tomatoes into halves or quarters. Finely chop the coriander and mint leaves. Cut green chilli into thin slices.
Combine everything - Add all the cut vegetables and herbs in a large mixing bowl.
Squeeze in half-lime/lemon juice. Sprinkle salt to taste and toss everything well.
Tips & Variations
- I prefer my salad simple and do not like adding extra masala and spices. But you can also make some variations to your taste. Sprinkle some dried spices, like cumin powder, red chili powder, chaat masala, paprika powder, and dried chilli flakes if you like adding spices.
- To keep the onions and cucumber fresh and crips, you can place them in the cold water bowl for about 30 minutes. Drain the water out and place it over the paper towel or clean cloth to remove excess water. Then add in the salad just right before making it.
- Soaking the onions in cold water also removes the strong sharp onion smell.
- To refresh the coriander and mint leaves, discard any wilted leaves and stems. Then add them to the icy cold water bath. Leave them for about 30 minutes or until they perk up.
- If you want to keep it simple, you can just add sliced onion rings, coriander leaves, lemon juice, chaat masala, and salt. It is called laccha pyaaz ( lacha pyaz ) which is a popular Indian red onion salad, served with North Indian meals.
FAQ
Like other vegetable salad, it tastes best when freshly made, but you can make few hours ahead and keep it in the fridge to keep the freshness.
To serve a crowd, you can simply double or triple both salad and seasoning ingredients.
The main difference between these two salads is the yoghurt. This restaurant-style onion salad is made with small cubes of onions and vegetables, fresh herbs, lime juice, and no yoghurt included. Kachumber raita is made with finely chopped vegetables, herbs, and spices with yoghurt.
Authentic Indian onion salad is made with minimum ingredients. But you can be creative by adding shredded carrots, sweet cabbage, red cabbage, lettuce, pomegranate seeds, bell peppers, cayenne pepper, jalapenos, etc.
Serve this side dish with Kachumber raita, poppadoms ( papadum ), chapati, naan, and main dishes like Chicken Madras, Hyderabadi Chicken, Lamb korma, or Lamb Karahi for a complete family meal.
More delicious Indian appetizers and sides
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📖 Recipe
Easy Indian Onion Salad
Ingredients
- 1 Large onion Salad/red/Asian shallot onion
- ½ Cucumber
- 8-10 Cherry tomatoes Or salad tomatoes
- handful Mint leaves
- handful Coriander leaves
- ¼ tsp Salt or adjust salt to taste
- ½ Lime
- 3-4 Green chillies Hot/mild
Instructions
- First, wash the vegetables with plenty of water, drain and shake the water out. Place them over the paper towel or clean cloth to remove excess moisture.
- Cut the onion and cucumber into small cubes, Cut cherry tomatoes into halves, Finely chop the mint and coriander leaves. Cut green chillies into thin slices.
- Place all the vegetables and herbs in a bowl.
- Squeeze fresh lime juice in and season it with salt to taste. Toss everything well and ready to enjoy!
Notes
- Salad vegetables - You don't have to add the exact same vegetables used in this recipe. Add your favourite crunchy salad vegetables.
- How to cut vegetables? You can cut the vegetables into small cubes (5mm), or tiny cubes ( 3mm), or cut them into thin slices.
- Spices - If you love a hint of masala flavour in your onion salad, sprinkle some chaat masala, paprika powder, or your favourite masala powder.
- Chillies - I love to add fresh hot green chillies, if you prefer it mild, you can omit green chilies or substitute it with mild chilli peppers.
- You can pair this salad with Kachumber raita, poppadoms, and mint yoghurt, and serve it together with your choice of curries, biryani, pilau, or appetizers.
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