Thursday, November 19, 2009

Carrot Kosumbari

Koshimbir/Kosumbari/Kosamalli are salads made from raw veggies and lentils and are healthy snacks as themselves.These are basically Kannada speciality and Konkani too.Traditionally they contain raw or sprouted lentils and are made from carrots/cucumber and with an optional tadka or seasoning.There are several variations or versions for this though.As for me, I grew up with a version that is similar to a raitha , though comparatively this raw version is easier.Still I have diverted from the traditional version and added finely chopped/grated red onions to it and have avoided the seasoning and also the raw lentils.

Ingredients:
Carrots: 2-3 peeled & grated finely
Onions: 1 small peeled and finely chopped/grated
Coconut: 2-3 tbsp
Green Chilly: 1-2 as per taste.
Lemon juice: 1-2 tbsp or more
Cilantro/Coriander Leaves: for garnish and optionally mixing.

Preparation:
Peel and grate the carrots finely.Similarly grate the onion.Chop the green chilly and few tbsp of cilantro.The ingredients on first look (except cilantro)...

In a bowl mix together carrot,onions,coconut grated and few tbsp of cilantro and chopped green chilly.Add in salt and squeeze in lemon juice and mix well.Garnish with more cilantro.

Lemon juice will soften the onions and sort of take away the raw taste of them.Serve as a salad with rice or as per choice.The salt will bring out the water in carrot and onion and the salad will be moist and fresh no matter at what time you have prepared it.The mixing of cilantro depends on taste.I sometimes,avoid mixing cilantro and use it just as a garnish.Traditional or additional inclusions are washed and soaked/lightly cooked moong dal,moong ,sprouts,cucumber,pom seeds,ginger,grated raw mango or whatever you wish like peanuts,cashews etc. You can even replace the carrot and use beet to get a beet kosumbari.

The basic recipe of kosumbaris is same and sometimes they stand out due to the ingredients used.Other spectacular kosumbaris I have found:

and a very different one made with fried yam pieces from here: Yam Kosumbari

Another version similar to a raitha with yoghurt and mustard seasoning is Carrot Raita.

The simplest salad made quickly from the root veg carrot is on way to NCR:Root Vegetable at Lisa's. Hope she enjoys this salad.

14 Comments:

Shama Nagarajan said...

new recipe to me..looks yummy

Priya Suresh said...

Such a healthy carrot kosumbari..prefect entry CL!

tigress said...

this looks lovely and very healthy. i did not know about kosumaris before.

you're blog is great. i love 'indian' food and there is a lot of inspiration here! :)

Tina said...

Its a new recipe to me....

Cham said...

I always do with cucumber! Very bright and tasty one :)

Anonymous said...

first time here.blog hopped from priyas blog..kosambari is something that I have started liking very recently.looks gud

Usha said...

Healthy and lovely kosumbari!

Sunshinemom said...

I love these esp. with parathas! Looks very bright on the table too:)

Sharmila said...

I too am used to the raita version with curd ... your version looks great! :-)

Divya Kudua said...

Such a refreshing salad..I make it in a very similar manner -

http://divyascookbook.blogspot.com/2008/10/carrot-salad.html

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

I don't really like western salads, but Indian ones are another story. This one is probably one of my faves!

Anonymous said...

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Red Chillies said...

One of our favorite salads. I make this often too without the tadka as well. Thanks for the mention Sweatha.

Joanne said...

I have never seen a salad like this before! I love all of the different colors and fresh flavors. Perfect to wake up the taste buds in winter.

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