Kachumbari is a Swahili word that has its origin in the Indian word ”cachumber” which means cut into small pieces.
Kachumbari is a simple, light, and easy-to-make east African salad made with onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, salt, pepper, and lemon dressing – a fresh, tart salad with a little kick to it. You simply can’t go wrong here; a ton of flavor for such a simple recipe.
It is an uncooked side dish consisting of chopped tomatoes, onions, and chili peppers, which is kind of the pico de gallo version of African food. Kachumbari is often served as a side with hot, spicy or aromatic meals like East African Pilau, Mukimo or Nyama Choma (roasted meat).
The key ingredients to this recipe are chopped-up onions, tomatoes, and cucumbers combined with salt, pepper, and lemon dressing. However, you can find variations of this recipe in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and in the Southern African countries of Malawi and Congo. In this case, you find the use of additional ingredients like avocado and some other spices as well. This slight diversity of flavors is mainly due to the use of locally available spices, herbs, and vegetables.
This is best served immediately, however, if you are not using immediately, cover with a plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator till ready to use for up to 3 days
Just before you serve, add the salt. If you put the salt in too early, it will extract the juice from the vegetables and make the kachumbari runny.
