Sutikai Kosambri or Kakdi chi Koshimbir

Today I have chosen to write about my daughter’s favourite salad known in Kannada as “Sutikai Kosambri” or in Marathi as “Kakdi chi Koshimbir”!

Packed with nutrients of cucumber, peanuts and/or coconut and curds it is one of the easiest and the tastiest salad to put together plus you can eat it with chapatti or rice.

Ingredients:

2 cucumbers

1 tblspn peanuts

1 tblspn freshly grated coconut (optional)

1 cup thick curds

Salt

For Tempering

  Oil

Mustard

Hing/asafetida

Curry leaves

Green chilies

Method:

1.     Heat a kadhai /wok with the peanuts and dry roast them. Alternatively you could microwave them for 30 sec stir and repeat. (Please check this is what I do for mine. The timings will vary from unit to unit. The best guide is your nose) J

2.      I generally do not peel my veggies as I believe I get rid of all the nutrients so I wash the cucumber well and cut the tops off. 

3.     Now comes the fun part get your kid to rub the top to cut portion of the cucumber till it foams.  Mine says she is shaving the cucumber; sorry I have no pics of this one will update it at a later date. This is done as per my old granny to get rid of the bitterness of the cucumber.

4.     Now if you have an Anjali cutter turn the blade to the cutting side facing up and bring the cucumber down on the blade gently. Remove & turn the cucumber and bring it down again. Repeat till you get fine cuts all along the cucumber. Cut it repat again. This is called in Kannada as “Khochodu” and in Marathi as “Chochne”.  You can also do so with the ordinary knife only be careful. I prefer my kosambri this way to grating the cucumber as I like the crunch of the cucumber. This is how it looks.

5.     Collect all the cucumber in a bowl and give them a slight squeeze and drain the juice out. Do not throw this juice out use it on you face it’s a wonderful astringent and face lightening agent.

6.     By now your peanuts will have cooled down grind them coarse the choice is yours you could peel them or not. I don’t.

7.     Dump it on the cucumber, coconut, salt and curd. Mix well.

8.     To make the tempering heat the oil and add curry leaves fry till crisp add chillies remove both, add the mustard. When the mustard splutters add the hing/asafoetida.

9.     Pour on the cucumber mix.

Enjoy!!

This is my entry for Day 6 of BM #9 Group 2. Do check out what the others are making here.

Sending this Srivalli’s Soups and Salad’s Mela.

I am hosting a new event which I am calling Back to our Roots. Do check out my event and send me your entries from 15/10/11 to 30/11/11.

Archana