Cucumber Kosambari is a refreshing South Indian salad prepared with diced cucumbers, grated carrots, soaked moong dal, green chillies, and fresh coriander leaves.
Table of Contents
What is Kosambari?
Cucumber Kosambari is a salad native to the state of Karnataka. This salad has diced cucumber, soaked moong dal, and grated carrots seasoned with mustard seeds and urad dal, topped with pomegranates, grated cucumber and a drizzle of lemon juice.
Kosambari is a Kannada word for salad and is a staple dish at weddings and bale ele oota (banana leaf meal).
Southekayi Kosambari is a must have dish at every wedding, function or festival food. Without beginning with this salad, the meal always feels incomplete. As long as you have all the ingredients, Kosambari is simple to put together.
Kosambari also goes by the name of Koshambir in Marathi and Kosu Malli is Tamil.
Ingredients or Cucumber Kosambari
The chief ingredient in this Kosambari is Cucumber. Take the local variety of cucumber, peel the skin and diced the cucumber to small pieces – smaller the better. You can include the seeds or discard them is you wish. You can use the English cucumber variety too. The local variety of cucumber contains more water and makes the salad much tastier.
Wash, peel the skin and dice the cucumber into small pieces; to the size of teeth.
Yellow Moong Dal – For every cucumber used, take one tablespoon of split yellow moong dal. Wash the moong dal and soak it in water for a minimum of 20 minutes. Once soaked, drain the water and keep aside.
Grated Carrots – These add colour and texture to the salad and who doesn’t like carrots in their salad, right?
For a bit of heat, you can use 1 large green chilli, finely chopped. If you want to flavour of chilli but not the heat, you can remove the seeds and the white vein while cutting the green chilli.
If you want to use pomegranates, open one and keep the kernels ready.
For the seasoning or tadka – You will need 1 teaspoon of cooking oil, 1 tsp of mustard seeds and split urad dal, 1/4 teaspoon of asafoetida powder and a couple of sprigs of curry leaves.
Finally, for the garnish, you can use one tablespoon of grated coconut, one tablespoon of finely chopped coriander leaves and a lemon juice from half a lime.
Optional ingredients – Fried peanuts, Congress Kadlekai, Raisins
How to make Cucumber Kosambari?
Making Kosambari is quite simple, really. Take a large bowl, add the diced cucumbers, grated carrots, pomegranates, soaked moong dal, chopped green chillies and mix well.
In a small tadka pan, add a teaspoon of cooking oil and allow it to warm up. Next, add in a teaspoon of mustard seeds and urad dal. Once they sputter, turn off the flame and add the curry leaves and 1/4 tsp of asafoetida powder. Once the curry leaves are crisp, you can now add the tadka to the bowl of diced cucumbers.
For the final touches, garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves, fresh grated coconut and a large drizzle of lemon juice.
If you are eating the kosamabari right away, you may add 1/2 tsp salt and mix well along with the rest of the ingredients.
If you are eating later, add the salt closer to the time of serving, to avoid the cucumbers releasing water upon the addition of salt.
Storage & Shelf Life
Kosamabari does not have a long shelf life, and it does need to be consumed within a few hours after preparation. This is because the cucumbers will start leaving water the moment you season it with salt.
If you are looking to prep all the ingredients, you can do that without the seasoning and garnish. You can store it for up to a day in the fridge. (Cut vegetables tend to wither slightly after a day or two when stored in the fridge.)
For the beginners
Cucumber Kosambari is a simple recipe for beginners too. If you are making it for the first time, you might feel overwhelmed to prep all the ingredients. You can make this kosambari with just cut cucumber, soaked moong dal and grated coconut along with the tadka to get the classic cucumber kosambari taste.
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Recipe
Cucumber Kosamabari
Ingredients
- 1 Cucumber large
- 1 tbsp Yellow Moong Dal washed and soaked
- 1 Carrot grated
- 1-2 Green Chilli finely chopped
- 1-2 tbsp Grated coconut
- 1 tbsp Pomegranate kernels (optional)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
For the tadka (seasoning)
- 1 tsp Cooking oil
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 tsp Split Urad dal
- 1/4 tsp Asafoetida
- 1-2 sprig Curry leaves
- 1/ Lemon juice
Instructions
- The first step is to wash and soak the yellow moong dal in water. You can soak it for 15-20 minutes.
- Wash, peel and dice the cucumber into small pieces (the size of a tooth) and transfer them to a large bowl.Wash, peel and grate the carrot. Add the grated carrot to the bowl with the diced cucumbers.
- Chop the green chillies into small pieces and add it to the cucumbers and carrots. If you want to reduce the spice from the green chilli, you can remove the seeds and the white vein.
- Once the yellow moong dal has soaked for a minimum of 15-20 minutes, drain the water from the bowl add only the soaked yellow moong dal to the bowl.
- Mix all the ingredients well.
- Place a tadka pan on low-medium heat. Once the pan is warm, add the cooking oil. Once the oil is warm, lower the heat and add the mustard seeds. Once the seeds sputter, add the split urad dal and mix until they slightly brown. Turn off the flame and add 1/4 tsp asafoetida powder and curry leaves.
- Add this tadka to the Kosambari bowl and mix well.
- If you are serving right away, add the salt and pepper along with a generous drizzle of lemon juice. Garnish with some grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves. Mix well and serve immediately. If you are serving the kosambari later, do not add the salt, pepper and lemon. This will lead to the cucumber leaving water into the salad. Store in the fridge and season & garnish them just before serving.
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