Cucumber Kosambari / Taushe Koshimbir

Kosambari is a typical and traditional saladin Karnataka. It is prepared during major festivals, auspicious occasions, and marriages and even offered as ‘prasada’ in temples. This is also called as Koshimbir in Konkani and Maharashtra and is very easy to prepare.

Kosumbari does not involve any cooking, it is basically a mix of soaked lentil and raw vegetable of choice (cucumber or carrot or both) with right seasoning.  It is very high in protein and also has a cooling effect on the body because of Moong Daal and Cucumber.  

Kosambari tends to become runny if kept for a long time, mainly because of salt and cucumber. To overcome this there are 2 tips that I have learnt from my mother.

• Adding salt to the finished salad at the last minute, just before serving.
• Allow the moong daal to get soaked in the water left out by the diced cucumber. There is no need to soak the moong daal separately for a long time.

Ingredients        

• 1/4 cup moong daal
• 1 big cucumber peeled
• 2-3 green chillies
• Salt to taste
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ¼ cup shredded coconut
• Chopped coriander leaves for garnish 

Seasoning: 

• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• Asafetida
• 2-3 red chillies broken
• Curry leaves
• 2 tsp oil

Method: 

• Wash the moong daal in enough water and drain it out completely.
• Chop the peeled cucumber into fine pieces and place it over the moong daal. Do not mix them together. Make sure that the moong daal gets the water left from the cucumber.
• Add the shredded coconut, cut green chillies, lemon juice, coriander leaves and cover it. Again don’t mix anything for now.
• Now prepare the seasoning (tadka) of oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, red chillies, and asafetida and pour this over the lentil, cucumber mixture.
• Keep this aside for at least an hour or two.
• Finally just before serving add salt and mix this thoroughly.

 This serves as a great accompaniment with rasam/sambhar rice.