गाजराची कोशिंबीर / Gajarachi Koshimbir / Carrot Salad

Eating salad is a proven way of cutting down calories without compromising on necessary nutrients. A typical Maharashtrian Koshimbir is the best example of such a salad. Even if you don’t like raw carrorts, I bet you will enjoy this Gajarachi Koshimbir –

Ingredients

2 fresh medium carrots, grated
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 tb spoon peanut(groundnut) powder
1 tb spoon sugar
1 tb spoon fresh lemon juice
2 medium green chiliis, finely chopped
salt to taste
4 springs of cilantro, finely chopped

This is the simplest recipe so far. Grate carrots , chop tomatoes and ground roasted(optional) peanuts. Mix everything together with salt, sugar, green chilies ( can be substituted with red chili powder) and lemon juice. Toss everything together and garnish with finely chopped cilantro leaves. I sometimes add roughly chopped cashew nuts along with peanuts.

Optional –
Some people use a standard tadka(phodni) including curry leaves (कढीपत्ता) but I like it without any tadka.

A quick look at its nutritional value –
Carrots, as we all know, are excellent source of Vitamin A and tomatoes provide Vitamin C and some dietary fiber. The peanuts provide proteins and some essential fatty acids. So, it’s perfect.

Sending this to Healthy Diet~ Veg Side Dishes by Priya