Since I was young, I liked to drink the liquids from the kachumbari salad. It is funny to admit I still do that. Years ago, I had kachumbari leftovers; I thought it would not hurt to blend and have something tasty to drink. So I did and that was the beginning of my favorite Swahili drink I call zimua juice because it feels good morning after a night of a few drinks. I shared this recipe for the first time last year with the readers of Tupomoja Magazine in Tanzania.

Ingredients

• Kg 1/ 2 lb very ripe tomatoes
• 2 cups / 198 gm thinly sliced onions
• 2 cups / 340 gm cucumber (peeled, seeded, and cut into small sizes)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp habanera cut into small pieces
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro / coriander leaves
• ¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon or limejuice (not fresh bottled)
• 2 cups water to add in the blender (You may need more later)

Cleaning onions (for step number-2 below)
• 1 tsp salt for soaking onions
• 2 cups water for cleaning the onions

Celery sticks and cilantro for garnishing (optional)

1. Clean the tomatoes; remove the seeds then cut into small size for blender.
2. To clean the onions: In a small bowl, mix onions, ½ tsp salt and 1-cup of water. Squeeze the onions while in water for 30 seconds or about 10 times. Discard the water.
3. Add the remaining 1-cup of water and remaining ½ tsp salt, let stand for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes discard the water by squeezing the onions; then place the onions aside.
4. In a blender, blend tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, salt, habanera, and cilantro until smooth.
5. Then add lemon/lime juice and 2 cups of water, mix in the blender for about 5 seconds to mix well.
6. Serve with ice and garnish with cilantro leaves and celery as you please.

NOTES:
For your summer drink; make ice cubes using 2.5 cups of water in advance, add on step 4 above. But mix limejuice after crushing the ice cubes.