Indian Watermelon Salad
Recently, a friend of mine hosted a homemade Indian luncheon at her home. I am a big fan of Indian cuisine, but have never been treated to such a feast as this. She made a vegetarian meal consisting of six dishes and homemade Indian bread. There was chickpea curry, stuffed eggplant with spices, potato curry, coconut green beans, rice pilaf, and a yogurt soup. Over the past several years, after taking a few Indian cooking classes, I’ve learned to make a handful of dishes and am now comfortable enough with Indian spices to try different recipes. However, this feast, which took my friend two hours to put together would probably have taken me at least twice as long.
A Homemade Indian Vegetarian Feast
The day of the luncheon, I rushed home after a morning of meetings and tried to think of what I could bring. Looking through my fridge, I found a big piece of watermelon which I thought of cutting up to bring; but, I wanted to make something a little more special. I came across a video for making an Indian Watermelon Lime Salad from Tabla exec chef Floyd Cardoz in New York City which intrigued me as it was a savory watermelon salad. The one ingredient that threw me was Chat Masala spice mix, which I had never heard of. Since I didn’t have any, I decided to make my own spice mix using a recipe I found on eCurry. That’s what I love about the internet. You can find a recipe for just about anything.
After making this Indian Watermelon Lime Salad, I got a little nervous. What was I thinking…bringing an Indian salad to a lunch prepared by an Indian cook. I had no idea if my salad tasted authentically Indian or not. In addition, I wasn’t sure how my friends would respond to a savory watermelon salad. Fortunately, everyone at the luncheon loved this interesting watermelon salad. In fact, my youngest son, who is a huge watermelon fan, was curious about this savory watermelon salad and asked for it for dinner that night. To my surprise, he loved it too.
Just goes to show that sometimes it’s worth taking a risk trying something new.
Indian Watermelon and Lime Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups watermelon diced and seeds removed
- ¼ cup breakfast radish thinly sliced
- 1 lime zested and cut into segments
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 teaspoon fresh root ginger peeled and minced
- 1 hot chili pepper seeds removed, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 sprigs mint
- 1 sprig cilantro
- Chat masala to taste available at Indian and Asian groceries
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
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Combine the watermelon, radishes, and lime segments in a medium bowl.
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Add lime zest, lime juice, ginger, chili, and olive oil. Add chopped mint and cilantro. Toss gently. Season with chat masala, salt and black pepper.
This post has been linked up to Beyond the Peel’s Whole Food Wednesdays event.
Watermelon is surprisingly adaptable to savory sauces and seasonings. Who knew? I love the idea of the Indian spices here, and I’m definitely going to try this.
Lydia, I had my first savory watermelon salad a few years ago, although growing up, we would sprinkle a little salt on our watermelon to bring out the sweetness. This recipe caught my eye and I really liked the results.
i had a watermelon salad at a restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan and i loved it!!! what a great refreshing salad. 🙂
What a gorgeous fest. I’m a huge fan of watermelon salad and love its application here to cool the palate. Absolutely beautiful Jeanette.
Thanks France – this is such a nice combination of flavors – we really enjoyed it.
This is such an interesting recipe. I would love to try it. I saw your name on the BSP list. I am going too and looking forward to meeting you!
This is a really refreshing watermelon salad – hope you have a chance to try it. Yes, I’m going to BSP, my first time, and looking forward to meeting you!
wow this looks amazing! sounds so flavorful and refreshing!
That looks refreshing and fantastic!
I just bought a bunch of radishes, and even though I love them, I was wondering what I was going to do with them. Now I know!
What a delightful salad, and I love the spices used here! This is a perfect summer salad, and the unique seasonings make it extra special! Love it 🙂
I love the idea of this salad! I’ve had watermelon salads before with feta and olives, but I think the cool refreshing watermelon with the kick of Indian spices is a great idea. Thanks for the recipe, I’ll definitely be trying it out!
Looks really fresh and light. The colors are so perfect for summer. Another great recipe, Jeanette!
This is just bursting with bright flavors and I adore every component of it!
This is just bursting with bright flavors and I adore every component of it!
I’m so glad you posted this Indian-inspired watermelon recipe. I adore the combination of ingredients (lime, chile, ginger) – and it reminds me of some of my very favourite Indian salads featuring mango and papaya. I’ve not seen the use of watermelon in this preparation before and am very happy to have the variation. Looks beautiful too!
I wasn’t hungry before I clicked to come to your site but I certainly am now. I went to a cooking demonstration by a cookbook author a couple of weeks ago and as we entered the room there was a big plate of chopped watermelon with lime and black pepper and I thought it was fantastic. This salad is even better! Now I must go shopping.
Thanks you all – so glad everyone is liking this interesting but so refreshing way of enjoying watermelon. I’m making another batch this week!
I love a nice refreshing watermelon salad! I’ve got to try this.
I have been dying for Indian food for the past 3 days and this post put me over the top, lol! I’m making dal makhani tonight…either that, or I’m going to ask Mike to take me out to our favorite Indian place, lol! That feast looks killer and so does your watermelon salad.
i love chaat masala on all my salads:) that is a gorgeous summery and so pink salad:)
This looks so cool and refreshing. I’ve bookmarked it to try soon. I’m a novice when it comes to Indian cooking but very curious, especially as I learn more about Ayurvedic principles.
What a great recipe. I love savory flavors mixed with sweet fruit ones. This is a perfect summertime recipe. Thanks for sharing!
I love watermelon — actually quite a few varieties of fruit — with spicy chili lime salt so know I’d enjoy this salad. The radishes are a great crunchy add.
Kelly – I love the ideal of chili lime salt on watermelon – will have to give that a try!