This kosambari/salad is a part of any festival celebration in Karnataka! I love this kosambari because it’s super easy to make and also probably because I associate it with festivals, it tastes special. Normally apart from festival days, I never used to prepare this at home! But while I thinking about great evening snacks, it struck me that this is an amazing snack 🙂 You don’t have to prepare this for just festivals or special occasions, right?
This kosambari is super simple – you don’t need to cook anything! Soak the Mung for an hour, then combine the Mung with some chopped cucumber. Like all kosambaris, the seasoning is simple – just some mustard seeds and chillies, dash of lemon and salt with some chopped coriander (cilantro) and grated coconut! Snacking couldn’t get easier than this, right? The tanginess of lemon, mild sweetness from the coconut, crunchiness of the mung and cucumber and the light spice from the red chillies! Wow 🙂
Hesarabele Southekayi Kosambari (Mung dal and Cucumber Salad)
Ingredients
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1/4 cup split mung dal (yellow)
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1 cucumber
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1 tsp oil
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1/2 tsp mustard seeds
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2-3 dried red chillies roughly torn into 3 pieces each(or chopped green chilli – you can adjust according to your taste)
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pinch of hing (asafoetida)
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juice from 1 lemon
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Salt to taste
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Handful of chopped cilantro
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1 tbsp grated coconut (optional)
Method
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Soak the mung dal in 1 cup cold water for about 1/2 hour. Then drain the water and rinse the dal in cold water a couple of times.
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Peel the cucumber and chop it very finely.
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In a large mixing bowl, combine the cucumber and mung dal. Add salt and lemon according to taste.
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For the seasoning, heat 1 tsp oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add the chillies and sauté for a min. Add the hing and turn off the heat.
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Add this seasoning to the cucumber and mung dal mixture and mix well. Garnish with some chopped cilantro and grated coconut! Serve as a mid-afternoon or evening snack!
