Kachumbari

Don't Make These Mistakes

Soak the onion. Ten minutes in cold water is the whole difference between fresh and acrid.

Deseed and drain the tomatoes, or the salad waters down as it stands.

Add the avocado last and fold once. Any more and it smears through everything.

Making Kachumbari

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1. Soak the sliced onion in cold water for 10 minutes, then drain well and pat dry.

   Mark done Start 10 min timer

2. Toss the diced tomato with half the salt in a sieve set over a bowl and leave 10 minutes. Discard the liquid that collects.

   Mark done

3. Combine the drained onion, tomato and chilli.

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4. Dress with the lime juice, oil, the remaining salt and the pepper.

   Mark done

5. Fold in the coriander, and the avocado if using, just before serving.

   Mark done

6. Taste for lime and salt — it should be sharp.

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What's Going On Here

Soaking the sliced onion in cold water for ten minutes takes the harsh sulphurous bite out of it while leaving the crunch, which is the single technique this salad has. Salting the tomatoes separately and tipping away the liquid keeps it a salad; skip it and within twenty minutes you have a bowl of pink water with vegetables in it.

Leftovers, Reheating and Keeping

Best within 2 hours. It refrigerates a day but softens; refresh with a squeeze more lime and fresh coriander.

If You're Missing Something

• Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the green chilli. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
• Lemon is the everyday swap for limes in this kind of dish — the acidity plays the same role even though the flavour is not identical.

Serving Kachumbari

• Nyama choma
• Ugali and sukuma wiki
• Grilled tilapia

What's in a Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (most of the energy comes from foods with no recorded source). Why some recipes have none.

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