Çoban Salatası (Turkish Shepherd's Salad)
چوبان سلاتاسی (ترکی چرواہے کا سلاد)
Çoban salatası, "shepherd's salad", is on every Turkish table, the way kachumber is on ours. The vegetables are almost the same: tomato, cucumber, onion and green pepper, chopped small. The difference is the dressing: good olive oil, lemon juice, a pinch of and plenty of flat-leaf parsley, which make it taste distinctly Turkish. It takes ten minutes and goes with everything.
- ⏱ Total: 15 min
- Prep: 15 min
- Easy
- Serves 4
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Rub the chopped onion with a pinch of the salt and the sumac and leave for 5 minutes. This softens its sharpness.
Put the tomatoes, cucumbers and green peppers in a bowl with the onion. Cut everything small and roughly the same size.
Just before serving, add the parsley and mint, the olive oil, lemon juice and remaining salt, and toss well.
Serve straight away, with a little extra sumac and lemon wedges.
Kitchen notes
Dress it at the last minute. Salt draws water from the tomatoes and cucumbers, and the salad turns soggy within 30 minutes.
Use firm tomatoes and remove very watery seeds if needed.
Some families add a handful of crumbled white cheese or a few olives.
A salad for every meal
Turkish meals almost always come with a plate of something fresh and crunchy, and çoban salatası is the default. It’s served with kebabs and köfte, beside pilav and beans, at breakfast and at iftar. The name comes from the simple, cheap ingredients a shepherd could carry.
Kachumber with a Turkish accent
Pakistani cooks already know how to make this salad. The differences are small but noticeable:
- Olive oil instead of no oil at all.
- , a sour red spice, rubbed into the onions.
- Parsley, lots of it, rather than coriander (though coriander works fine).
- Long green peppers for crunch without much heat.
Keeping it crisp
Cut the vegetables small and evenly, keep them cold, and dress the salad only at the last minute. Once salted, it starts releasing water quickly.
Serving
Serve with Adana kebab, köfte, İskender, kuru fasulye or as part of a Turkish breakfast spread.
Questions people ask
How is it different from kachumber?
The vegetables are almost the same. Kachumber is seasoned with chaat masala or cumin and lemon; çoban salatası uses olive oil, sumac and lots of parsley.
Where can I get sumac in Pakistan?
Some large supermarkets and online spice sellers carry it. A pinch of anardana powder with a little lemon zest is a good stand-in.
Can I make it ahead?
Chop the vegetables up to 2 hours ahead and keep them chilled, but add the salt and dressing only when serving.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 120
- Protein
- 2 g
- Fat
- 10 g
- Carbs
- 8 g
