Indian Cucumber Salad

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This simple cucumber salad has spices and coconut, turning the flavor profile to South Asia. There’s a crunch of chopped roasted peanuts, the heat of chili pepper and nutty-tasting popped brown mustard seeds and cumin.

What makes this cucumber salad different from any other is the base technique: It uses whole brown mustard seeds and cumin, bloomed in hot oil until they pop, releasing a warm, nutty depth you don’t get from untoasted spices.

These ingredients are key

• Cucumbers: I prefer Persian cucumbers because their thin skins and near-seedless flesh don’t water down the dressing. English cucumbers work well here too — slice them a little thicker since they have more water content than Persians, and consider scooping the seeds from the center if they are
• Unsweetened coconut: Sweetened coconut would tip this into a dessert — the unsweetened kind adds flavor that holds its own against the chili and lime.

Serve this alongside coconut rice, grilled fish, or as part of a spread with red lentil soup and flatbread.

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Indian Cucumber Salad

Karen Tedesco

Chopped cucumbers are spiced-up with cumin, toasted coconut, peanuts and fresh lime. It's lightly sweet, salty, sour and so good! It's full of spice and flavor that hits all the salty, sweet, sour, and spicy notes.

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4.92 from 68 ratings

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 10 minutes mins

Course Salad

Cuisine Vegetarian

Servings 4 servings

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• ▢ 5 Persian cucumbers, or 1 large English seedless cucumber, sliced into 1/2-inch chunks
• ▢ 1 tablespoon (15 g) finely chopped serrano, or jalapeno chili pepper
• ▢ ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
• ▢ ½ cup (73 g) roasted unsalted peanuts, finely chopped or pulsed in a food processor
• ▢ ¼ cup (25 g) unsweetened shredded coconut
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (30 ml) fresh lime or lemon juice, or a mixture of both
• ▢ 2 teaspoons sugar
• ▢ Fine sea salt
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (30 ml) coconut oil, ghee or neutral vegetable oil
• ▢ ½ teaspoons brown mustard seeds, optional
• ▢ ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• ▢ Chopped fresh cilantro or mint

US Customary – Metric

Instructions 

• Put the cucumber, chili pepper, red pepper flakes, ¼ cup of the peanuts, 2 tablespoons of the coconut, lime juice, sugar and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Toss gently.
• Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mustard seeds. When they start to sizzle and pop, stir in the cumin and remaining 2 tablespoons coconut. Turn off the heat.
• Pour the mustard seed mixture over the cucumbers and toss everything together (it will sizzle). Taste to make sure the salad has a good balance of salty-sweet-hot adding more salt, sugar, chili or citrus to taste.
• Serve in bowls sprinkled with the remaining peanuts and cilantro or mint.

Karen’s Notes and Tips

•  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.
• Mix the salad shortly before serving so it doesn’t become watery.
• If you can’t find brown mustard seeds, simply omit them.

Recipe adapted from How to Cook Indian.

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 272kcal Carbohydrates: 22g Protein: 7g Fat: 20g Sodium: 15mg Fiber: 5g Sugar: 10g

Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.

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• Salad
• Vegetables
• Vegetarian and Vegan

Hey, I’m Karen

Creator of Familystyle Food

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Professionally trained cook, cookbook author, and the person behind every recipe here. I cook the way I was trained: Start with good ingredients, understand why they work, and don’t apologize for the salt. These are the recipes I actually make, for the people I love. Read more about me here.