Summer crunchy koshimbir

This delicious looking gazpacho soup reminds me of a koshimbir (kind of salad cum dip) that we make in India. Endowed with a beautiful crunchy texture, it is raw, and like the gazpacho, best relished in summer.

To make this summery salad you need: 

Tomatoes

Onions

Cucumber (Indian variety with light peel which is to be removed)

Cauliflower

Coriander

Fresh green chillies

All above chopped finely.

Roasted cumin powder – a pinch

Salt – to taste

Sugar – to taste

Mix the entire lot with a spoon.

Keep it for 15 minutes for the juices to flow and mix. Best eaten with chapatti or white rice.

As ‘amancooks’ rightly says you do not have to liquidize everything you eat. To me, that is for invalids and those with no teeth.

FAQ: How many of each of the veggies to use?

That depends on the size of each vegetable, which of them you like most. I go for 2 tomatoes, 1 onion, 1 cucumber, 1/4^th of a cauliflower. Coriander and chillies again depend on how much of each you like or can tolerate, how pungent the chillies are, and so on. Cooking is a very subjective thing and a lot of proportions are based on individual tastes. The good part is this is a dish where you can play around with the proportions.

Marathi cuisine, and green tomato koshimbir

 

Marathi vegetarian cuisine is essentially non oily, quick to make and uses freshly available ingredients. Of course there are variations based on which part of Maharashtra you are from. The konkan coast is rich fertile land. The main crop is rice. Coconuts are available in plenty. So are fruits like mango, jackfruit and banana. Kokam or 'amsul' are used in sour preparations. On the other hand the khandesh or Marathwada region uses more of millets, jowar and bajri for making 'bhakri', a type of unleavened roasted bread. Groundnut is used whole or powdered. Red chillies, garlic, onion are used in greater quantities. The dishes from konkan coast tend to use more of green chillies.

 

You can find this difference in how a simple item like daal is made. Basically it is tur daal cooked and spiced to which water is added to form a medium thick broth. People from the Deccan plateau call it 'varan'. It is thicker, contains more spices, and red chillies or chilly powder, usually tamarind to add a sour touch. The 'amti' prepared by people originally from konkan coast, would be thinner, with chopped green chillies, a dash of fresh coconut and amsul.

 

 

Let's look at a simple green tomato koshimbir.

You need firm green tomatoes for this.

 

 

Ingredients: 

3 green tomatoes chopped fine

1 cupful of crushed groundnuts (peanuts)

2 green chillies chopped

Ingredients for Tadka

One teaspoon sugar.

Salt to taste.

 

 

Method:

In a bowl mix the chopped tomatoes, groundnuts, sugar and salt.

Prepare the tadka (given in a previous post). Pour on the mixture and mix again.

 

Excellent when eaten with roti or chapati.

 

Note:

Someone had asked me to include how many people my dishes can serve. It's like this. If you serve small portions like chutney, this koshimbir may be enough for 7 – 8 people. Me, I can finish it all by myself!

koshimbir - the marathi version of salad

In Maharashtrian cooking, we have a range of what is known as koshimbir - these can be loosely termed as salads. Made from fresh vegetables and fruits, they usually have a splash of tadka (described in a previous post). Items like ground paste of seeds or nuts or dessicated coconut are used to add consistency and bring the items together.    

 

The koshimbir is a side dish and can be eaten as accompaniment to chapati, roti or rice. Here's a quick one

Guava koshimbir

Chop ripe green guavas into small pieces.
Add them to well whipped curds.
Add salt and sugar to taste.

Your salad is ready! The adventurous ones could add pepper or chilli powder to taste.