Shirazi Salad or Salad-e Shirazi or, a simple easy to make cucumber and tomato salad with lots of Mediterranean flavours. A summer salad with bright colors and that goes with any meal.
This quick salad is bright in color, juicy with dressed in lemon and olive oil dressing with herbs and simple spices. Shirazi Salad looks so much like Indian Kachumber or Mexican Pico de-Gallo but with different flavours.
A Gluten-free, Vegan salad which can be served as side with your main meals or with appetizers like kebabs and tikkas.
What is Shirazi Salad
Shirazi Salad is an Iranian Salad, that originated from Shiraz city in Iran. It is immensely popular at Israeli menus and at meal time. A healthy versatile salad recipe which can be served with any meal. It is fresh, juicy and crunchy. Low in calories and carbs.
The salad is made with Israeli cucumbers, firm tomatoes, dried mint and fresh unripe grape juice. But you can substitute the ingredients from the locally variety of the vegetables available.
Ingredients to make Shirazi Salad
Cucumbers- Persian Cucumbers are used in traditional salad, which are more crunchy. I have used English cucumbers which are available to me locally. You can peel the cucumbers or use it with pel as I have done in my recipe.
Tomatoes- Use firm tomatoes. Roma tomatoes or any local variety is fine. Take out any seeds or squeeze out the extra juice.
Red Onion- It adds to the crunch a sweetness to salad.
Fresh Coriander or Parsley- Traditionally people use parsley or dill. At my local vegetable vendor I don't get these herbs often so I have used fresh coriander. You can use any of the herbs as per availability and your liking.
Dried Mint- It is one of the main ingredient of Salad-e Shirazi. Incase you do not have dried mint you can add few fresh mint leaves.
Spices- Salt and Black Pepper. I also add Sumac which is used in many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes, lends a nice tangy flavour to this salad. You can skip Sumac if it is not available to you. You can also add Zaatar as a substitute.
Lemon - Classic recipes for Shirazi Salad use verjuice or the unripe grape juice (also known as ab-gooreh). Since it is not available at my place I use lemon juice. You can procure it online if you want to try. Half to full one lemon juice can be added depending on how much tanginess you like in your salad.
EVVO- For oil free version you can skip it. I add 1-2 tbsp not much.
How to make Shirazi Salad
It takes just 5-10 mins from start to finish to make this crunchy juicy Persian /Iranian Salad.
Chop the vegetables(cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and coriander/parsley/dill) finely. If you are using Persian or English cucumbers there is no need to peel it. But if you are using other variety especially those in India, the local cucumber, you need to peel and cut off the tops. You can also rub some salt on the head to cut of the bitterness of cucumber(if present).
As mentioned in above section, you can deseed tomatoes and take off the extra juice. Too many seeds in tomatoes may add bitterness to salad. Avoid soft tomatoes as it will give lot of water and will make salad very watery.
Add the seasoning, lemon juice and oil. Mix well.
Add lemon juice and oil just before serving the salad if you want it to be on the crunchy side. For a more juicy salad add it while making. Cover and refrigerate the salad for at least an hour before serving for the flavours to shine.
Make Dressing
There is no need to make dressing in a separate bowl as you can directly add to the salad. But, if you want you can make a big batch and refrigerate for a couple of days and use as and when required.
Serving Suggestions
This salad can be served as an tasty appetizer with chips, toasted pita or nachos. You can serve it with your Mediterranean platter along with Hummus and other dips like Baba Ganoush.
Not even with Mediterranean or Middle Eastern Cuisine it goes so well with our Indian main meals too. I love serving it as a side with Instant Pot Veg. Pulao, Veg. Biryani or with Chole Masala and Rice combo.
Serve it along with kebabs, cutlets .
Use it as a topping for Masala Papad/Khakhra, Bruschetta or even as a filling for sandwiches like smashed chickpea sandwich.
More Salad Recipes from the Blog
Indian Kachumber, Vegetarian Black Bean Salad, Corn Peanut chaat, Delhi Style Fruit Chaat, Vegan Thai Raw Papaya Salad with Raw Mango and many more SALAD RECIPES
Persian Shirazi Salad
Equipment
- Chopping Board
- Knife
- Mixing Bowl
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
Ingredients
- 2 English Cucumbers
- 3 Firm Tomatoes use any variety
- 1 Red Onion
- Handful of fresh coriander leaves/Cilantro
- 1 Lemon add juice as required
- 1 tbsp Dried Mint or 7-8 mint fresh leaves
- 1 tbsp Sumac or use Zaatar
- 1 tsp Black Pepper freshly ground
- 1-2 tbsp EVVO
- Salt as required
Instructions
- Finely dice the cucumbers. You can peel if the peel is thick.2 English Cucumbers
- Finely chop tomatoes. Deseed and drain off the extra juice, you can leave chopped tomatoes on a colander.3 Firm Tomatoes
- Chop onion and fresh coriander/cilantro very finely.1 Red Onion, Handful of fresh coriander leaves/Cilantro
- Mix all the chopped vegetables in a mixing bowl or salad bowl.
- Add rest of the ingredients.1 Lemon, 1 tbsp Dried Mint, 1 tbsp Sumac, 1 tsp Black Pepper, 1-2 tbsp EVVO, Salt as required
- Mix nicely. Serve immediately for a crunchy salad or cover and refrigerate salad for a more juicy salad.
Notes
Also, whenever you try the recipe, I will love to hear/share your feedback or any queries in the comment section below. I will try to answer your queries as soon as possible.
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