Cucumber Kosambari

Kosambari is our  typical  raw dish in a meal mostly with some soaked-sprouted legumes and some crunchy vegetable/fruit. This time around it was all about the summer cucumber. I had run out of the usual split green gram and had to throw a Kosambari dish on the table. So did something with just some tender, summer cucumber that we had picked ourselves from a nearby farm. The cucumbers were so tender almost sweet and as crisp as it gets.
The Kosambari has a strategic position in our meals. The sweets address the sweet tooth of course, the rice dish fills up the soul and the palya is the good-nutritious part which fills the belly. The Kosambari sort of acts like a palate cleanser along with lightening the entire meal. We adore the Kosamabri and it is a summer staple. So lets capture the warmth of the fleeting summer in this dish of cucumbers.

  We will need,

Cucumber 1 medium chopped
Coconut 3-4 tbsp
Peanut oil 1 tsp
Mustard seeds 1/8 tsp
Jeera 1/4 tsp
Hing a dash
Curry leaves a few
Dried red chillies 3-4
Fresh coriander a handful chopped
Salt to taste
Lemon juice to taste

Method:

• Place the chopped cucumber in a bowl. Toss in the coconut.
• Prepare the Oggarane. Heat the oil in a wok. 
• Throw in the mustard seeds, Jeera, hing, curry leaves and broken red chillies. Turn off the heat when it stops sizzling. Allow the Oggarane to cool down.
• Toss the Oggarane with the cucumber-coconut mixture. 
• Adjust salt and lemon juice. Stir in the chopped coriander.  Serve immediately.