Laccha pyaaz is a classic Indian onion salad - thinly sliced onion rings, lemon, green chili, and cilantro. A quick side dish for your North Indian meal or tandoori appetizers. Even people who don’t usually like raw onions enjoy it because the onion flavor is actually mild!
½ of small Green chiliseeds and stems removed, chopped finely (Optional)
1tablespoonCilantro or coriander leaveschopped finely
1-2teaspoonsLemon juiceor lime juice
Saltto taste
Instructions
Slice the onions into thin rings. Soak them in cold water for 15 minutes. Then drain all the water.
Add chopped green chilies, cilantro, salt, and squeeze lemon (or lime) juice.
Mix well.
Serve immediately after mixing
Notes
The addition of green chili is optional. Skip if not preferred spicy.
Raw onions have a sharp and pungent taste with a strong smell. So to make it less pungent and to remove the lingering aftertaste, we are soaking the onion rings into the cold water for 15 minutes. If you prefer the strong onion taste then you can skip this step.
Serve immediately after mixing everything as the salt draws out the liquid from the onion quite quickly. Also, because of raw onions, it starts to smell strong if stored for later. Plus, onion loses its crunch.
To make masala laccha pyaz, add a pinch of red chili powder and a pinch of chaat masala.
This is a great salad to have on the side of North Indian meals like paneer butter masala, dal makhani because it is so refreshing. It’s a particularly good pairing with tandoori dishes – here are some dishes that I like to serve it with: paneer tikka, tandoori aloo, veg kabab.