kachumber gazpacho

Soups & Salads

Kachumber Gazpacho

When tomatoes are at their best, take a cue from Hetal Vasavada and don't cook them at all. "In the summer, Indian families often make kachumber salad. It's basically an Indian pico de gallo situation, minus the cilantro," says Vasavada. "My husband loves gazpacho—he's the kind of person who drinks salsa from the jar—so I thought this would be a nice, cool summer dish." Vasavada channeled her love for kachumber, a fresh, cucumber-based Indian salad, to inspire this exciting riff on the classic chilled summery soup. Warm spices and a hint of chile add flavor and heat without overwhelming the fresh tomatoes; sev, a crispy chickpea noodle snack, adds a pleasant crunch.

Ingredients

2 pounds heirloom tomatoes (about 5 medium), cored
1 small cucumber, peeled and seeded
1 small red onion
1 small red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
1 (3/4-inch-thick) sourdough bread slice (about 2 ounces), roughly torn (about 1 cup)
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup water, plus more as needed
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, divided
1 medium-size fresh serrano chile, stemmed, seeded (if desired), and roughly chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
2 medium garlic cloves
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
½ teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
¾ teaspoon ground cumin, divided
¾ teaspoon ground coriander, divided
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, plus cilantro leaves, for garnish
¼ teaspoon kashmiri chile powder, or more to taste
¼ teaspoon chaat masala (optional)
¼ cup sev (crispy chickpea noodles) (3/4 ounce)

Directions

Finely chop just enough tomatoes, cucumber, and onion to yield 1/4 cup of each; set remaining tomatoes, cucumber, and onion aside. Rinse finely chopped onion under cold water 5 seconds; drain well. Stir together finely chopped onion, tomatoes, and cucumber in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 12 hours.
Chop remaining tomatoes, cucumber, and onion into 2-inch pieces. Rinse onion pieces under cold water 10 seconds; drain well. Place onion, tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, bread, olive oil, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup lime juice, serrano chile, garlic, vinegar, garam masala, salt, black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon coriander in a large (at least 8-cup) blender. Process until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with additional salt and black pepper to taste. Chill, covered, until cold, at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours.
When ready to serve, add chopped cilantro, Kashmiri chile powder, chaat masala (if using), remaining 1 tablespoon lime juice, remaining 1/4 teaspoon cumin, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon coriander to reserved bowl of chopped vegetables; stir to combine. Season with salt to taste.
Remove gazpacho from refrigerator; thin with water if needed to reach desired consistency. Season with additional salt and black pepper to taste. Divide soup evenly among bowls. Top evenly with chopped vegetable mixture and sev; garnish with cilantro leaves.