Onion Salad | Easy Indian Onion Salad

An Onion Salad or the beloved ‘Laccha Pyaaz’ is the mother of all salads for us Indians! Be it any restaurant, dhaba (a roadside eatery), a quaint little food stall on the streets or even at home, whenever there’s a robust Indian meal of rich curries, breads and/or rice, the Pyaaz ke Lachche or Onion Salad is what balances it out. I would also call it the quickest vegan side dish. Make it with red, white or sweet onions, the choice is yours.

Love For Onion Salad

From pairing the humble Indian onion salad with a curry-rice or lentil-rice meal and everything between and beyond, our fixation with this particular salad is for real. I mean you will hardly find an Indian who will deny with this fact.

The Onion Salad is quite the obvious and omnipresent element at all Indian restaurants, especially the ones serving North Indian and Mughlai cuisine. It is even a customary for many of us to start binging on the laccha pyaaz itself before the actual meal arrives. And by that time, usually the salad plate is empty. So, you ask for a refill and the servers happily do that too!  

We really can’t explain the love we have for this particular salad made with onion rings, the simplicity of which is absolutely inversely proportional to its popularity across the Indian subcontinent. Even I love my Onion Salad the way anyone else does. So, this recipe was bound to be shared.

More On This Onion Salad

As mentioned earlier, Onion Salad is Laccha Pyaaz in Hindi and is basically a super simple salad made with onion rings and a few more ingredients. Hence, the English translation is an onion ring salad.

My recipe has thinly sliced onion rings spiced with red chilli powder and chaat masala, and tossed with lemon juice, fresh mint leaves and salt. These are basically the ingredients that make for a universal laccha pyaaz recipe as well. However, there can be some twists depending from eatery to eatery or individual to individual.

For instance, you can replace the mint with coriander leaves or use both. If you wish to use vinegar in place of lemon juice, go ahead with it. I also feel that the chaat masala is a must as it perks up the salad well. The chilli powder can also be altered according to your preference.

Another popular accompaniment which belongs to this category is this Pickled Onions, locally known as sirke wale pyaaz. The family is complete when a Masala Papad is added to this trio.

How to make Onion Salad

Preparation

1. Slice 1 large onion into thin rings or rounds.

2. Measure and keep all the ingredients ready to make the salad.

Make Onion Salad

3. In a bowl, take the onion rings. Add ¼ teaspoon red chili powder, ½ to 1 teaspoon chaat masala (optional), 1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves (or coriander leaves) and edible rock salt (or black salt) as required.

Instead of rock salt, you can also use regular salt.

4. Lastly, add 1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar.

5. Mix everything very well.

6. Check the seasonings and add more salt, red chilli powder or lemon juice if required. Serve the Onion Salad immediately.

Serving Suggestions

You try this salad and you’ll be actually amazed on how quick and fuss-free it really is. Thus, also proving the fact that it is one of the most common salads served at eateries pan India.

This Indian Onion Salad is best when served fresh and immediately. Great as an accompaniment with curries, tandoori or grilled snacks and appetizers like tikka, kabab and more.

Pulao and biryani also pair fab with this Onion Salad. Even a meal of creamy, buttery gravy like Malai Kofta, Paneer Butter Masala and Naan or Tandoori Roti is quite incomplete without this easy-peasy crunchy salad.

This Onion Salad recipe post from the archives, first published in August 2013 has been updated and republished on October 2022.