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Shalgam (Kazakh Radish Salad)
Long white radish, carrot, sweet red pepper and onion cut into fine strips and dressed with oil, vinegar, garlic, a little sugar and a pinch of chilli, a crunchy cold salad for the start of a feast.
Kazakh · easy · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 5 min · plus 30 min hands-off time
~183 cal · 2g protein · 14g carbs · 14g fat · 4g fiber · 7g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Shalgam is a salad from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, named after the radish at its heart. The radish is cut into long thin strips with carrot, sweet red pepper and onion, and the vegetables are dressed with oil, vinegar, garlic and a little sugar and chilli.
It belongs to the dastarkhan, the Kazakh table that is covered with bread, baursak, salads, pickles, cold meats and sweets before the hot dishes are brought in. Guests pick at these through the first rounds of tea, and the big platter of beshbarmak comes much later; a sharp, crunchy salad like shalgam is exactly what is wanted alongside the rich meat.
Many cooks pour hot oil over the garlic and chilli before dressing the salad, and a long daikon radish does the job perfectly well away from Central Asian markets.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 500 g daikon or green radish
- 1 large carrot
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 small white onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes or cayenne
- 4 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar or 9% table vinegar
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped (optional)
Instructions
- 1Peel the radish and carrot and cut them into long, fine strips on a julienne grater or with a knife. Seed the pepper and cut it into thin strips. Toss the vegetables and onion with the salt and leave for 10 minutes, then squeeze out the juice they release.
- 2Put the garlic and chilli in a small heatproof bowl. Heat the oil in a small pan for 2 to 3 minutes until very hot and pour it over them; it will sizzle. Stir in the vinegar and sugar.
- 3Pour the warm dressing over the vegetables, toss well and leave for at least 20 minutes for the flavours to soak in. Taste for salt and vinegar.
- 4Scatter with coriander, if using, and serve cold or at room temperature with bread, before the hot dishes.
Kazakh and Kyrgyz home tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Almaty. The city is named for its fruit. The wild forests in the Tian Shan foothills around Almaty grow Malus sieversii, identified by genome studies as the primary ancestor of every cultivated apple in the world, and the name is usually explained from alma, the Kazakh word for apple.
🗺️
Kazakhstan. Kazakh food reflects a nomadic, horse-and-sheep-herding past, centered on beshbarmak, boiled meat over wide noodles eaten by hand. Fermented mare's milk (kumis), horse sausage, and bread anchor a hospitable steppe table.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Kazakhstan
Beshbarmak"Five fingers": boiled meat over wide noodle sheets with onion gravy, Kazakhstan’s dish of honor, eaten by hand.
BaursakFluffy yeasted fried dough puffs served warm with butter, jam, or honey and tea.
KuyrdakA hearty fry-up of meat, potato, and onion, the celebratory dish traditionally made when an animal is freshly butchered.
Browse all Kazakhstan recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Best assembled just before serving. Prep the components ahead and dress at the last moment so it stays crisp.
Make it a Kazakhstan meal
KumisDrink
ZhentDessert
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Shalgam (Kazakh Radish Salad)?
Long white radish, carrot, sweet red pepper and onion cut into fine strips and dressed with oil, vinegar, garlic, a little sugar and a pinch of chilli, a crunchy cold salad for the start of a feast.
Where does Shalgam (Kazakh Radish Salad) come from?
Shalgam (Kazakh Radish Salad) is a Kazakh dish from Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Can Shalgam (Kazakh Radish Salad) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Shalgam (Kazakh Radish Salad) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Shalgam (Kazakh Radish Salad) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Shalgam (Kazakh Radish Salad) take to make?
About 1 h in all: 25 minutes prep and 5 minutes cooking, plus 30 min of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 4.
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