Recipes Soup Cold Soup Kachumber Gazpacho 5.0 (1) 1 Review 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. By Hetal Vasavada Hetal Vasavada Instagram Website Hetal Vasavada is a cookbook author, blogger, and bakery owner who is an expert baker and is known for creating dishes with a unique combination of both her Indian and American backgrounds. She has a degree in biochemistry and uses her scientific background to create recipes.Experience: Hetal Vasavada is a cookbook author, baker, and blogger. Her first cookbook, Milk and Cardamom, was about Indian-inspired desserts. The cookbook was listed as one of 2019's best cookbooks by the San Francisco Chronicle and The Washington Post. Her recipes have been featured in The New York Times, Buzzfeed, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, and more.Hetal owns and runs an online pop-up bakery, Milk and Cardamom Sweets. She also works as a recipe developer, food photographer, and social media consultant. In addition, she runs a popular blog and Instagram account where she shares her Indian-inspired desserts and Gujarati dishes. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on July 22, 2021 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Active Time: 25 mins Total Time: 1 hrs 25 mins Servings: 6 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. Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell Make Ahead Gazpacho can be stored in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 days. Note Sev may be purchased at South Asian markets or online at subziwalla.com. Suggested Pairing Lightly citrusy Provençal rosé: Commanderie de la Bargemone Rate it Print