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Salad shirazi
Salad-e shirazi: finely diced tomato, cucumber and onion with mint and lime
Salad shirazi is named after Shiraz, the city of gardens in Fars province, and it is the salad served with almost every Persian rice and kebab meal. Tomato, cucumber and onion are cut into tiny, even dice and dressed simply with lime juice (or sour grape verjuice, ab-ghooreh, in Shiraz itself), dried mint and a little oil. There are no peppers or herbs to muddy it: it is crunchy, sharp and cold, and is spooned onto rice as a relish. Chef's tip: dice everything as small as a pea; the tiny cubes are what make it taste like Shirazi rather than a chopped salad.
- Total time
- 10 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Put 1 red onion in a sieve and rinse with cold water for a few seconds, then shake dry. This takes the harsh edge off the raw onion.
Step 2: Mix 3 firm ripe tomatoes, 3 small cucumbers and 1 red onion in a bowl. Chill until you are ready to eat.
Step 3: Whisk 3 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp olive oil, ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper, and crumble in 1 tsp dried mint between your palms.
Step 4: Dress the salad at the table, or no more than 5 minutes before. The common mistake is dressing it early: salt draws water from the tomato and cucumber and you end up with a bowl of soup. Serve chilled with rice or bread.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 55 kcal
- Protein
- 1 g
- Carbs
- 7 g
- Fat
- 3 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does salad shirazi take?
- About 10 minutes in total.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of firm ripe tomatoes?
- Tinned chopped tomatoes: a 400g tin for about 6 tomatoes (in cooked dishes, not salads).
- What can I use instead of small cucumbers?
- Courgette, same weight (in salads, use young ones).
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