Moong Dal Salad is a popular, protein rich, delicious and healthy South Indian style salad. Known as Kosambari, it is generally made from yellow moong dal, cucumber and coconut. A tempering of mustard seeds, green chillis and curry leaves is added to make the salad flavourful. This salad also goes by the names koshambiri, kosumalli. Traditionally, raw soaked moong dal or chana dal is used for this salad. However, I have made a version that my family enjoys and that is by using cooked moong dal. While Mag Ni Dal is our all time favourite to enjoy with rice, this salad has been added to the favourite list as our go to summer time meal.
Memories
When my daughter was getting married in 2016, one of the meals that we had planned for the guests was a proper no onion, no garlic, meatless meal which is traditionally served on a banana leaf. The manager of the catering company sent me the menu online. All the names obviously were the kannada names of the dishes. I had to Google each name to know exactly what type of dish it was. Kosambari was one of them. The description given was raw moong dal salad. Initially, didn’t like that as I thought who likes raw moong dal. The manager brought some for us to try and we loved it, well most of us! Hubby didn’t like eating raw moong dal. Anyway, we did have it on the lunch menu for the wedding.
Sharing Moong Dal Salad | Kosambari Recipe With 2025 Alphabet Challenge Group
We’re already half way through the alphabet challenge journey, initiated by Wendy. As you may know, I have decided to share salad recipes where either the ingredient begins with the letter or the salad name. For letter M I have chosen to share a salad with moong dal which is popular salad or side dish served with South Indian meal.
M is for melon, macadamia, marmalade, marmite, maple syrup, mango, mushrooms, millets, moong, miso, mascarpone, mustard, macaroni, mace, maize, marshmallow, mint, majoram, mange tout, milk, etc. Plenty of options to choose from.
This time M is Moong Dal for me.
Some Recipes With M You May Like
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Ingredients Required For Moong Dal Salad | Kosambari
Moong Dal
Yellow moong dal is used for this salad. Soak the dal in warm water for at least 2 hours. Wash the soaked dal and let the water drain out. Use it raw if you wish. I have cooked the dal. Follow the instructions in the recipe below.
Cucumber
Best to use Persian or English Cucumber as the skin and seeds tend be tender. If you have to use any other variety of cucumber, peel it. Dice the cucumber into small pieces.
Fresh Coconut
Fresh grated coconut tastes really good with this salad. If like me you don’t have access to fresh coconut then use the frozen one. I would not advise using desiccated coconut.
Peanuts
Roasted and shelled. Chop the peanuts roughly.
Fresh Coriander
Wash the coriander. Pat dry on a kitchen towel.Chop the coriander along with the tender stems
Carrot
Peel and grate a small carrot. Some homes make kosambari without carrot. The choice is yours.
Salt
Add according to your taste. If you cook the dal, we will be adding some to it. So for the final salad preparation add the salt accordingly.
Green Chillis
Generally chopped green chillis are added. Since we are not fans of chopped or sliced chillis, I prefer to mince it. Add according to your taste.
Ginger
Peeled and grated. Need a small quantity for flavour.
Lemon Juice
Add according to your taste. I prefer the salad a bit lemony so drizzle some more before enjoying it.
Oil
Use any oil of your choice. Coconut, sunflower, olive oil, etc.
Mustard Seeds
Sarson ke dane, rai. Need a small quantity for tempering.
Asafoetida
Also known as hing. Need some for tempering. Omit for a gluten free salad. Powdered asafoetida tends to have some wheat flour.
Curry Leaves
Need a sprig for tempering. Curry leaves add flavour to the salad. If you don’t have fresh ones, use dried or frozen curry leaves.
Pomegranate
This is my own addition. Love adding a few arils to any salad to make it more colourful and flavourful.
Moong Dal Salad is a popular, protein rich, delicious and healthy South Indian style salad. Known as Kosambari, it is generally made from yellow moong dal, cucumber and coconut. A tempering of mustard seeds, green chillis and curry leaves is added to make the salad flavourful.
Course Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine Indian, South Indian
Keyword kosambari, kosambari salad, koshamburi, moong dal salad
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 5 minutesminutes
SOAKING TIME 2 hourshours
Total Time 2 hourshours15 minutesminutes
Servings 4
Author mayurisjikoni
Ingredients
½cupyellow moong dal
enoughwaterfor soaking & cooking
1cupcucumberfinely diced
½cupcarrotgrated
¼cuproasted peanutsroughly chopped
¼cupfresh coconutgrated
¼cuppomegranate arils
2tbspfresh corianderchopped
2tbsplemon juice
1½tspsalt
1-2green chillis, sliced or minced
½tspgingergrated
2tbspoil
1tspmustard seeds
1sprigcurry leaves
⅛tspasafoetida
Instructions
SOAKING THE MOONG DAL
Soak the moong dal in enough warm water for 2-3 hours. Make sure the water level is at least 2 inches above the level of the moong dal.
Transfer the soaked moong dal and water to a colander. All the soaking water will drain out.
Wash the dal with some fresh water.
If you are going to use raw soaked moong dal then allow it to rest on a kitchen towel for 10 minutes. The towel will soak up excess water.
COOK THE MOONG DAL
Boil about 3-4 cups water in a wide pan.
Add the drained and soaked moong dal and ½ tsp salt.
Allow the dal to cook till just done (al dente). It should not over cook. Mine took about 4 minutes over medium heat.
Transfer the cooked dal to a colander. Allow it to cool down.
PREPARE THE SALAD
Dice the cucumber finely. Add to a mixing bowl.
Peel and grate the small carrot and add to the bowl.
