Carrot Kosumbari

It is here. RCI Karnataka! Finally! I missed the RCI Tamilnadu event as I was very new to the blogging world at the time. I could have, with S's help, participated in the RCI Andhra event, but I was still reasonably new and thought that participation in food blogging events was only by invitation. Silly me.

Now, I know better. And I even saved up the stuff that I cooked right through August just so I could send them all to dear Asha, the hostess of RCI Karnataka. All through the next 30 days, you will mostly see recipes from Amma's kitchen, lovingly passed down from mother to daughter generation after generation.

For those of you who may not have read my original introduction, and are confused with the many states that I represent within India, I'm half Konkani (maternal) and half Tamil (paternal) and am married to a Telugu. I have lived all over India in the years since I left home (Madras) in 1997 and the city (town/village??) I now call home is Gurgaon. I have a tendency to call a lot of places "my own" and would consider myself Indian above all else. Home cooking for me is very global, but for this month, I am going to showcase a lot of Konkani recipes. (It does help a LOT that I will be at home with Amma starting tomorrow until Sunday evening.)

I'm starting my flood of entries to Asha with a simple carrot salad. Koshimbir, kosumalli, call it what you will. This dish is ready in minutes and is nutritious and tasty all at once.


Ingredients:

2 large Carrots, grated
1/4 cup Moong Dal, washed
2 tbsp scraped Coconut
1 tsp Green Chilli-Ginger paste
Salt to Taste
Coriander leaves for garnish

For the tempering:
1 tsp Oil or Ghee
1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/4 tsp Asafoetida
7-8 Curry Leaves


Place the washed moong dal in a large bowl. Add the chilli-ginger paste, carrots, salt, and scraped coconut and mix well.


In a small kadhai, heat the oil or ghee, add the mustard seeds and asafoetida, and when the mustard splutters, add the curry leaves. Add this to the carrot mixture.




Garnish with coriander leaves and leave aside for 5-10 minutes. Enjoy it as a side dish with rice and dal.

This goes to Asha with loads of love as my first entry to RCI Karnataka, an event started by Laksmi that celebrates the regional cuisine of India. My earlier posts celebrating Konkani Saraswat cuisine have been:

Tomato Saar

Tandlya Roti Ani Lasnye Chitni

Biscuit Roti

Ambya Sasam

Rasayan

Tendlya Talasani

Sabudana Khichdi

Batat Phow

Bread Upkari

Chhollia Ghasshi

The sole Karnataka (non Konkani) dish that I have posted earlier is

Akki Roti

I am sure there'll be a lot of participation in this event. I'm off to Madras tomorrow for a lot of reasons. It's Rakshabandhan (no, it's not exactly a festival for us - Bhau Beej after Diwali is) tomorrow. My dear friend and ex-neighbour is getting married on the 30th. And my parents celebrate their 44th wedding anniversary on the 1st of September. So I'm going to have a lovely time with my folks.