Salads & cooked mezze
Khizou Mcharmel (Cooked Carrot & Cumin Salad)
خيزو مشرمل · khizzu mcharmel
Khizou mcharmel is a cooked carrot salad: sliced or diced carrots simmered until tender, then dressed while still warm with a chermoula-style mix of garlic, cumin, paprika, olive oil and lemon or vinegar. Tangy, garlicky and gently spiced, it is one of the standard little cooked salads of the Moroccan mezze table.
- Origin
- Across Morocco
- Type
- Cooked salad / mezze
- Eaten at
- Starter, mezze, everyday side
- Key flavour
- Carrot, garlic, cumin, paprika, lemon
What Khizou Mcharmel is
Carrots are boiled or steamed until just tender, then tossed warm with a dressing of crushed garlic, cumin, paprika, olive oil, chopped herbs and a good hit of lemon juice or vinegar.
Dressing the carrots warm lets them drink in the garlicky, cumin-heavy 'mcharmel' seasoning, giving a salad that is soft, tangy and deeply savoury rather than sweet.
Origin & story
'Mcharmel' means dressed in chermoula-style seasoning, the garlic-cumin-paprika-herb-lemon base that flavours many Moroccan cooked salads, fish and tagines; carrots are one of its classic vehicles.
It is inexpensive, everyday cooking that turns a humble root vegetable into a bright starter, and a fixture of the mixed cooked-salad plates set out before a meal.
Key ingredients at a glance
- Carrots
- Garlic
- Cumin
- Paprika (sweet, sometimes with a little hot)
- Lemon juice or vinegar
- Olive oil
- Parsley and coriander
This is a flavour snapshot, not a recipe. For quantities and method, see the full recipe linked below.
When & how it's eaten
Served cool or at room temperature as one of several cooked salads to start a meal, eaten with bread; it also partners grilled meats and fish well.
It keeps for a day or two, the flavour deepening, making it a practical make-ahead mezze.
Regional variations
Some cooks add a pinch of sugar or a few olives; a spicier version leans on hot paprika or chilli. Whole baby carrots, sliced rounds or mashed textures all appear.
It is a savoury counterpoint to the sweet carrot and orange salad, and shares its chermoula dressing with batata mchermla and cooked fish salads.
Where to try it in Marrakech
Common on the cooked-salad spread at traditional Moroccan restaurants and homes; a souk-to-table food tour lets you sample the mezze range.
Learn the chermoula-dressed salad technique in a Moroccan salads and mezze class and read more in the guides.
Frequently asked questions
What does mcharmel mean?
It means dressed in chermoula-style seasoning — a garlicky mix of cumin, paprika, herbs, olive oil and lemon or vinegar used on many Moroccan cooked salads.
Is the carrot salad sweet?
No — khizou mcharmel is the savoury, tangy, cumin-and-garlic cooked carrot salad, distinct from the sweet Moroccan carrot-and-orange salad.
Is it served hot or cold?
The carrots are dressed warm so they absorb the seasoning, but the salad is served cool or at room temperature as a starter.