Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Khamang Kakdi- Nutty Cucumber Salad

Usually the cucumber salads/raithas I have seen will be having yogurt in them to make a refreshing side. But this is a nutty and mustardy salad from Maharashtra and I am totally in love with it. It is also known as kakdichi koshimbir (cucumber salad) in Marathi and as usual has several variations like with or without seasoning,with or without yougurt etc. I have adapted mine from Sanjeev Kapoor and it turned out just fine.

Here the cucumber should be of correct ripeness. You peel it unlike the regular salads where it is unpeeled and then check for bitterness by tasting the ends. If  the taste suits you or it is perfectly for the salad then you make this salad. I have used snake melon or the fruity and thin skinned Armenian cucumber which has no bitterness. Still going with the traditions, I have lightly peeled these. Just lightly ran a peeler on the skins and took whatever little skin it gave out. Omit this part if you want.

Ingredients:
Armenian Cucumber: 1-2 lightly peeled and chopped
Peanuts: handful, roasted and powdered
Coconut: 1-2 tbsp
Green Chillies: 1-2 as per taste and heat , chopped/slit
Lemon Juice: 1-2 tsp
Sugar: a pinch (optional)
Salt: as per taste
Coriander Leaves: chopped for garnish

Tempering/Seasoning:
Ghee: 1-2 tsp
Mustard: 1/2 -1 tsp
Cumin Seeds: 1/4 -1/2 tsp

Preparation:
Roast and powder a handful of peanuts.

Lightly peel and chop the cucumber into small pieces.You can omit this step if you are going for the armenian ones that I have used.

Mix together in a suitable bowl, chopped cucumbers,slit green chillies,peanut powder,coconut and sugar and salt as per taste.Drizzle lemon juice to this mix,do the taste test and keep aside.

Prepare the tempering,but heating the ghee and adding the mustard and cumin. Let the mustard splutter and cumin seeds sizzle. Remove from heat and pour on the salad saving some for garnish. Mix well and serve garnished with coriander leaves and remaining seasoning .



A simple hearty salad/koshimbir this turned out to be. Yogurt is never missed in this and you can have it a a side or even a snack.The taste was nutty and mustardy with crunchy cucumbers.The roasted peanut powder is called 'dhaanyache kut' (lentil powder). Peanuts are lentil and not nuts though the taste is of nuts -hence the  word 'nutty' in title :). Enjoy the salad.


5 Comments:

chef and her kitchen said...

This one is like familar n not-s--familiar type of salad..he he..looks yumm..:)

Anonymous said...

Woww..that is a new recipe to me. I have to try this. Cucumber is perfect to beat this awful heat!! Thank you for the recipe. :)

Swathi said...

This cucumber salad looks awesome perfect for summer. regarding the vettu cake. it is not her recipe, i used from internet as well as from you tube video. now I posted a link to them.

Suman Singh said...

Nice, easy and refreshing salad..perfect dish to beat the heat...thanks for sharing the recipe!

Swati Sapna said...

Hey, this is a lovely cucumber recipe that I have never heard of! There is another non-yoghurt version that my m om used to make.. you can check it out here http://theweekendepicurean.blogspot.com/2010/07/cucumber-chutney.html

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