A refreshing, light, and a filling Indian kachumber salad with barley! A refreshing, light, & filling Indian kachumber salad with barley! This barley salad with mixed veggies is a non-greasy salad with a simple lemon dressing.
I am finally posting a recipe that’s lone due. Barley water and barley lemonade are regular fares in our household, especially during summer. I usually use the cooked barley to make the idli dosa batter or make some humble khichdi or this salad.
It’s a very simple recipe, so I was a bit hesitant to post. But then for posterity, I decided to share the simple recipe here.
I love barley in soups or khichdi (yet to share the recipe), but it took some time for me to enjoy barley in the salad. But once I got acquired to the chewy texture, there was no looking back. Like my bean-based salads, these barley salad is also filling and super healthy.
It’s a perfect side salad, or you can even have it as a meal. I have packed this for my lunch many times, and I have also shared it on my Instagram.
Kachumber-
Kachumber is a freshly chopped salad dish made with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions with simple lemon juice dressing. We don’t need many seasonings for this salad, just salt, and pepper is sufficient.
There are many variations to this recipe. In the South, a similar version called kosambari is quite popular. You can find carrot kosambari and moong dal kosambari on my blog.
While making paratha for our weekend brunch, I wanted to make some side salad and decided to make kachumber. I had some cooked barley in hand and included that as well. That’s how I came up with the idea of kachumber with barley.
Veggies to add-
For this salad, I added onions, cucumber, tomatoes, and carrots. I have tried including colored bell peppers as well. You can add any veggies of your choice and adjust the measure as well. There is no set measure for this salad recipe.
Dressing-
Instead of salt and pepper, I added Trader Joe’s chile-lime seasoning and some lemon juice and lemon zest. That’s it. We don’t need any oil or other seasonings for this recipe. Lemon zest is optional even.
Cooking the barley-
I have explained the benefits of barley in my barley lemonade post. So, for ½ cup of barley, I add 4 cups of water and simmer it over medium heat for 30 minutes or until the liquid reduces to half in quantity or until the barley is soft and nicely cooked. I use pearl barley, and by 30 minutes, it will be fully prepared.
Use the water to make lemonade, or you can drink it plain. And use the cooked barley for this salad.
If you are cooking in a pressure cooker, use triple the amount of water and pressure cook for four whistles. In Instant Pot, cook at high pressure for 25 to 30 minutes and release the pressure naturally. This water measure and timing is for pearl barley. When you are pressure cooking, there won’t be much water left.
How to make barley salad-
Prep-work:
- Chop all the veggies and set aside the required amount. I used onions, tomatoes, carrots, and cucumber for this salad.
- Cook the barley, as I mentioned in the post.
Steps-
- In a bowl, add all the ingredients. Add the chili-lime seasoning, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Mix and check for seasoning.
- Adjust the spices according to your preference. Garnish it with cilantro and serve right away. Mix the veggies and seasonings just before serving; if not, the salad will become soggy.
Recipe Notes-
- Adjust the veggies and the measure as per your liking.
- Instead of chile-lime dressing, you can add salt and pepper as per your taste.
- Lemon zest is optional.
- Instead of cooked barley, you can add any cooked beans of your choice.
- For this veggie measure, you can add ⅓ cup to ½ cup of cooked barley. If you are getting acquired to barley taste, start with ⅓ cup and increase it slowly.
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📖 Recipe
Barley Salad | Indian Kachumber Salad with Barley
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
Measurement Details: 1 cup=240ml; 1 tbsp=15ml; 1tsp=5ml;
- ⅓ cup pearl barley cooked refer notes
- ¼ cup onion finely chopped
- ½ cup cucumber finely chopped
- ⅓ cup carrot finely chopped
- ¼ cup tomato finely chopped
- 2 tsps lemon juice or to taste
- ½ tsp lemon zest optional
- ½ tsp chile-lime seasoning or to taste
- 2 tsps cilantro chopped to garnish
Instructions
Prep-work:
- Chop all the veggies and set aside the required amount.
- Cook the barley, as I mentioned in the post.
Steps-
- In a bowl, add all the ingredients. Add the chili-lime seasoning, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Mix and check for seasoning.
- Adjust the spices according to your preference. Garnish it with cilantro and serve right away. Mix the veggies and seasonings just before serving; if not, the salad will become soggy.
Notes
- Adjust the veggies and the measure as per your liking.
- Instead of chile-lime dressing, you can add salt and pepper as per your taste.
- Lemon zest is optional.
- Instead of cooked barley, you can add any cooked beans of your choice.
- For this veggie measure, you can add ⅓ cup to ½ cup of cooked barley. If you are getting acquired to barley taste, start with ⅓ cup and increase it slowly.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
It was nice to go through your post. Thanks for sharing the recipe here. Keep up the good work.
Nice Recipe!