Pakistani Bejewelled Kachumber Salad & the art of sensory cooking

 Be it a family Sunday dinner of Biryani; an office feast of Nihari and Naans; a simple quick lunch of Daal and Keema or a midnight craving of Tikkas; Kachumber salad graces every Pakistani meal. Visually spectacular, with enticing aromas of cumin and salad freshness; Kachumber is the vegetarian ice breaker to our very hugely carnivorous menu. Usually made of finely chopped red onions, tomatoes, cucumber, dry roasted cumin, lemon juice, chopped green chilli, mint and coriander. My twist of bejewelling it with pomegranates favours my passion with red - I then season with salt and a dash of chaat masala.Memories of lazy summers, crisp southern Pakistani winters and humid monsoon afternoons come to mind - Taking respite in the kitchen, as a child always being given small boring tasks of chopping - little did I know that my very presence in the kitchen helped me vicariously absorb the Pakistani way of cooking that comes naturally to me - I learnt simply by lazily watching, tasting, smelling, touching. The foolproof way of learing how to cooking the Pakistani way is to let go of fears of understanding spice, allow your senses to lead you and concentrate on learning technique and tricks of grandmas and mums (or cookery teachers like me :)), not be burdened by counting teaspoon measures but allowing your instinct to lead you to flavour. Prepare the meal with love, dedication and then confidence just finds it's way. I stay true to advice my Nani (grandma) gave me: Never be a slave to a recipe, make each dish you own.Try the art of estimation with this one, its simple - believe you can create, and I promise perfect results.