Thinly sliced red onion rings tossed in Indian spices and fresh herbs, make the perfect accompaniment to your Indian meal. Whenever we go to North Indian restaurants, they always serve a side dish of onion salad, our recipe is inspired by these restaurant dishes, and we think you’ll love it!
Why you’ll love this easy salad recipe
- It’s SO easy to make, there’s no cooking involved, and it’ll be ready in 5 minutes.
- A tasty condiment that goes with so many other Indian dishes.
- As it’s so quick to make, it’s perfect to rustle up for unexpected guests.
- This onion salad recipe is 100% vegetarian, vegan, oil-free, gluten-free, and keto-friendly.
What are the best onions for salads?
Red onions are the best onion to use for this salad recipe, they are sweet, and they look great too.
Our Indian onion salad is perfect for adding a little zing to your dishes, it’s great on an Indian burger, with naan bread or poppadom’s.
How to cut red onions for a red onion salad
For this red onion salad recipe, you’ll want thinly sliced onion rings; if you cut them too thick, then they become too overpowering and drown out the flavors of the fresh cilantro and fresh mint.
A mandolin or a food processor are perfect ways to cut thin rings of onion, but if you don’t have one, then use a sharp knife.
Firstly, peel the onion and cut the top off.
Then slice the onion width-wise, cutting as thin onion rings as possible.
Do I have to use fresh herbs?
Fresh cilantro and fresh mint leaves make all the difference to this Indian onion salad.
You can use dried herbs, but you’ll lose that powerful fresh flavor, so we don’t recommend it.
Recipe variations
Our Indian onion salad is a great base for other variations.
Tomato and onion salad is a popular variation, as is Cucumber, tomato, and onion salad.
Try our version and then play around with textures and flavors to suit your palate.
Increase the spice
Do you like your dishes hot and spicy?
Our Indian onion salad already has a kick to it with the red chili powder, but if you are a spice fiend, you can add even more spice!
Simply cut thin chili pepper rings, either with or without the seeds, and add them to the salad.
This would blow my head off, but many people love the intense kick!
What do I serve it with?
The great thing about Indian salad is that it complements many Indian recipes!
Our crunchy Indian onion salad is not meant to be eaten on its own; it’s a salad that adds flavors to other dishes.
In British restaurants, you’ll eat it with poppadoms, but in India, it’ll be eaten with flatbreads, like naan, roti, and chapati.
We love adding it to our delicious aloo tikki burger!
Make it part of an Indian thali with a curry, put it in a naanwich, or eat it with naan bread; it adds an extra tasty punch to your meal.
We also love these Indian pickled onions.
How do I store this?
Our Indian onion salad stores very well when kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
This makes it a perfect side dish for making ahead of an occasion.
Recipe notes and expert tips
- Out of rice vinegar?
Use apple cider vinegar instead. - No lemon juice?
Use lime juice instead. - Reduce the spice
If you don’t like spicy dishes, then simply reduce the red chili powder, adding a little at a time until you get the heat you like. - Add sugar
If you want to sweeten your salad a little, then add a sprinkling of sugar. - Storage
Store your Indian salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
More Indian side dishes for you to try
If you love our Indian onion salad, or pyaaz ka lachcha as it’s called in Hindi, then why not try these delicious Indian side dishes; aloo gobi, bhindi raita, aloo tikki, boondi raita, and aloo palak.
How to make Indian onion salad with step-by-step instructions
Making our Indian onion salad recipe is super easy if you follow our simple instructions
In a medium bowl add thinly sliced red onion, curry powder, add red chili powder, rice vinegar, lemon juice, chopped cilantro, chopped mint leaves, salt, and black pepper.
Mix thoroughly, serve and enjoy!
We hope you enjoy making and eating our Indian onion salad and would love to hear how you got on with making it.
Please leave a comment below, and feel free to ask any questions you may have.
Easy Indian onion salad recipe
Utensils
Ingredients
- 1 Large Red onion
- ½ tsp Curry powder
- ¼ tsp Red chili powder
- 2 tsp Rice vinegar
- 2 tsp Lemon juice
- 3 tbsp Cilantro (coriander) chopped
- 3 tbsp Mint leaves chopped
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium bowl add thinly sliced red onion, curry powder, add red chili powder, rice vinegar, lemon juice, chopped cilantro, chopped mint leaves, salt, and black pepper1 Large Red onion, ½ tsp Curry powder, ¼ tsp Red chili powder, 2 tsp Rice vinegar, 2 tsp Lemon juice, 3 tbsp Cilantro (coriander), 3 tbsp Mint leaves, ¼ tsp Salt, ¼ tsp Black pepper
- Mix thoroughly, serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Out of rice vinegar?
Use apple cider vinegar instead - No lemon juice?
Use lime juice instead - Reduce the spice
If you don’t like spicy dishes, then simply reduce the red chili powder, adding a little at a time until you get the heat you like - Add sugar
If you want to sweeten your salad a little, then add a sprinkling of sugar - Storage
Store your Indian salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Please note that nutrient values are estimates only. Variations can occur due to product availability and manner of food preparation. Nutrition may vary based on methods of origin, preparation, freshness of ingredients, and other factors.
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lynn polito says
I love the flavors in this salad! So good!
Sherry Ronning says
This recipe reminds me of my dad. I make this for him and he will sit and eat his onion salad but he also likes to top his cheese burger with the fancy onions. This is such an awesome recipe.
Linda says
Love the flavors of this onion salad. So fresh and goes well with burger
Donna says
This is my first time tasting anything like this, but they are amazing! We paired with a curry and some spiced yogurt, and they added so much flavor!
Rachel says
I’m not a big raw onion fan but my husband is. He could eat an onion like an apple. I’ll be trying this recipe soon.
Emily says
So delicious, this salad went perfectly with my homemade naan!
Glenda says
I love pickled onions and now I have a new way to enjoy them! This was absolutely scrumptious! The curry and the little kick of chili are perfect.