Kachumbari, a simple Kenyan salad with fresh tomatoes, cucumber, onion and avocado with lemon juice and coriander. Perfect to serve as a side salad with a stew.
Cooking Tips
- Choose ripe, firm tomatoes for the best flavour. For Kachumbari we suggest using beef tomatoes (beefsteak), but any firm tomatoes with thick flash will work. If tomatoes are out of season then cherry tomatoes would also work.
- Consider using a mix of different tomato varieties for added colour and taste.
- After slicing the onions, tomato and cucumber, sprinkle them with a small amount of salt. This not only adds flavour but also helps to draw out excess moisture from them, reducing the sharpness of the onions and intensifying the tomatoes and cucumbers’ natural sweetness and flavour. Allow the salted onions to sit for about 10 minutes. During this time, the salt will penetrate the onions, and they will release some of their water content.
- Allow the Kachumbari to marinate for at least 15-20 minutes before serving. This gives the flavours a chance to meld and intensify.
- Kachumbari should have a good balance of acidity from the tomatoes and lemon juice, heat from the chilli pepper, and freshness from the cilantro.
Serving Kachumbari
Kachumbari is a great side dish for a variety of dishes. We particularly like it with our Githeri.
Githeri
Traditional Kenyan spiced bean and corn stew with mixed vegetables. Easy to make and delicious served with a side salad and chapatis.
Check out this recipe
Kachumbari
A simple Kenyan salad with fresh tomatoes, cucumber, onion and avocado with lemon juice and coriander. Perfect to serve as a side salad with a stew.
Ingredients
- 2 beef tomatoes beefsteak
- ½ red onion diced
- ½ cucumber diced
- 1 green chilli seeds removed then diced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons chopped coriander
- 1 ripe avocado
- Juice of one lemon
Instructions
- Prepare the tomatoes, onion, cucumber and green chilli by cutting them into chunks all roughly the same size. Add them to a bowl then sprinkle over the salt. Mix well to coat the vegetable in the salt. Cover the bowl and set it aside for at least 10 minutes.
- Once the vegetables have rested for 10 minutes carefully drain any excess liquid from the bowl.
- Chop the avocado into chunks the same size as the vegetables and add to the bowl together with the chopped coriander. Squeeze over the juice of 1 lemon then thoroughly stir to coat all the vegetables and avocado in the lemon juice and coriander.
Tried this recipe?Mention @mikeronm or tag #theveganplanetkitchen!
