Chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, and onion are combined with toasted cashews, mint, and lime for a cooling summer salad. This vegan and gluten free kachumber is perfect for enjoying on hot summer days or when you need a cooling element alongside spicy foods!
During these sweltering summer days I’m all for cooling foods. In my mind, cucumbers seem to be the epitome of something cooling. Perhaps it’s because they are mostly made up of water (over 90% water to be exact). Until recently the most I ever did with cucumbers was make pickles or dip them in hummus. Even though I love a good pickle, I wanted to venture out from my comfort zone and experiment a bit more. That seems to be a big trend in my life at the moment 🙂
Since I love Indian food, I wanted to make my own version of kachumber with my homegrown cucumbers. In case you have never had it or don’t quite know what it is, kachumber is an Indian dish that is typically a mixture of chopped veggies like cucumbers and onions. It is meant to be a raw and cooling contrast to spicy curries and such. I had some pretty good kachumber at Pondicheri before they took it off the menu. When my cucumbers were ripe and ready to be picked, I set about creating an homage to this lovely dish with what I had on hand.
PrintKachumber
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, and onion are combined with toasted cashews, mint, and lime for a cooling summer salad. This vegan and gluten free kachumber is perfect for enjoying on hot summer days or when you need a cooling element alongside spicy foods!
Ingredients
- 1 medium cucumber, seeds scooped out and sliced
- heaped 1/2 cup of small grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 of a red onion, small dice
- large handful of toasted cashews
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 tbsp fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp fresh ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp garam masala (optional)
- sea salt to taste
Instructions
Combine everything together in a bowl and toss well. Taste, and adjust with more salt, spices, or lime juice as needed. Chill the kachumber until you are ready to eat it.
Makes approximately 4 side servings. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you are making this ahead of time, wait to salt it until right before you serve it as the salt will draw out a lot of moisture from the veggies.
- This makes a great side dish for a spicy veggie curry or dal.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Category: side
- Cuisine: Indian
Sterling Lynne says
Loved this! Thanks so much for your creativity in your "cooling"! One of my favorite dishes that you have made! Your photos are so inviting!
Ruth Black says
I can vouch for the tastiness of this, since I got to enjoy it at our vegan potluck! LOVE your pictures, Courtney!!
Courtney says
Thanks Ruth!! 🙂
Riya Singh says
Thanks so much for an amazing blog! So much work and sharing. I am truly impressed.
order online food