Purple Cabbage-Almond Koshimbeer

I love purple cabbage. I first tasted it in Mumbai, at a small, quaint restaurant called "Vandana" at Mahim - probably behind the by lanes of Victoria Church. Siddhartha Kak made this restaurant famous by writing an article "Wah re Vandana" in Times of India. So for our next event in the family, we headed to sample Vandana's food. I wonder if that restaurant is still there. If I am not mistaken, it offered coastal seafood probably from Tulu community.They had some rare delicacies like ladyfish etc. and the fried fish came with purple cabbage salad. For the first time in my life, I paid more attention to the salad than the fish!!:-D My mom was surely happy to see my interest in the salad and promptly included purple cabbage in our diet.

The other day while making the usual "koshimbeer" using purple cabbage, I discovered I was out of "daanyache koot" - roasted , unsalted peanut powder which is a staple in the Maharashtrian pantry. I love that crunch in my salad, so I made some "badamache koot"!!! I just ground a handful of raw almonds in the blender and used them instead of peanuts. We loved the taste!!

Purple Cabbage-Almond Koshimbeer

Ingredients

1 purple cabbage, finely shredded, chopped or grated

salt to taste

2 tbsp cilantro/coriander leaves, chopped

1/4 cup almonds, powdered

2 key limes, squeezed

2 green chilies, chopped

Tempering

1 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/4 tsp asafoetida

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients together except tempering

2. Heat oil in a small saucepan. Add all the seeds. Add the sizzling oil to the salad.

3. Mix it together. Adjust for salt and lemon juice.

4. Keep in the refrigerator till ready to use.

Note -

1. This delicious & crunchy salad can be eaten by itself for some light meal.