Summer is here and hence my love for salads and drinks! I love to treat myself to different kinds of salads in summer more than anything else and that is because salads are instant coolers for your body. It is healthy and easy to digest and can be had at any time of the day or night.
Besides all these reasons, another important reason is that it is super easy to make and this cucumber coconut salad that I make is probably the easiest of all. We Indians use curd in salads but this particular salad has no curd in it, which makes it a friendly salad for everyone, even those who are following casein free diet. What makes this salad special is the taste of it, the crunchiness of the cucumber and the soft plus sweet taste of the coconut are just too awesome to resist. You have to eat it to believe it.
First let’s know some benefits of Cucumbers
- Rehydrate the body and replenish the vitamins required by the body
- Fight cancer
- Relieve bad breath
- Helps in weight loss and digestion
- Reduces cholesterol
- Controls blood pressure
- Relieves gout and Arthritis pain
- Promotes the health of the joints
So plenty of reasons to eat more cucumber. Along with it the coconut is creamy and nutritious; lime juice adds that slight tanginess to the dish.
Let us just get straight on to the recipe. This is a South Indian Cucumber salad recipe and we have it literally with anything.
- Cucumber- 1
- Coconut- 2 spoons
- Green chillies-1 0r 2
- Coriander leaves 1 spoon
- Salt-as per taste
- Lime- half
- Peel the cucumber and chop into fine pieces.
- Similarly chop the green chillies as well as the coriander leaves. You can just slit the green chillies if you do not want to bite on the green chillies and burn your tongue. Just slit it and put.
- Grate the coconut.
- Take a bowl and put the chopped cucumber, coconut, green chillies and coriander leaves into it.
- Add a dash of lime juice and salt.
- Toss it all together.
That’s it your cucumber coconut salad is ready. This salad should be served immediately however if you want it to keep it for some time then you can add a tadka or a tempering.
For that you will need
- Coconut oil- 1 tbsp.
- Curry leaves- 1 sprig
- Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Heat the oil in a small pan and add the mustard seeds when the oil heats up. When the mustard seeds start spluttering, add the curry leaves and turn off the heat. Pour this tempering over the salad. This will preserve the salad for more time.
For variation: You can add chopped onion, tomato and also curd.
I personally do not like to add curd in this particular salad as it changes the unique taste of this salad. It is best in its authentic style however you can try the variations for a change.
Try this easy Cucumber coconut salad and let us know if you liked it. 🙂