Yeah, I’m on a bit of a food tear today. Fellow Vatul and multiple-award-winning film producer, Harini, reminded me in a series of tweets that today is Rama Navami, or what Hindus celebrate as the birthday of Lord Rama, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu the Preserver.  New Orleanians get this and some others don’t: Hindus eat certain, special foods on special religious occasions. On Rama Navami, the food of choice is kosumalli and drinks are panakam and neer moru. Who knows, maybe Rama favored these items, I’ll have to consult my mother. Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure northern Wisconsinites think Jesus liked Tom ‘n’ Jerrys because we sure drink a lot of them come Christmas time.

Nandita Iyer has a culturally insightful post up about Rama Navami foods and their recipes. Her cucumber kosumalli recipe sounds delicious and easy to make, so I hope she doesn’t mind if I reproduce it here. The 1/2 cup of moong dal is chock full of protein and so tasty with the cucumber and spices. Here is Nandita Iyer’s Cucumber Kosumalli for your Rama Navami:

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup moong dal
1 large or 2 medium cucumbers, peeled, finely diced
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp salt
Few sprigs of coriander leaves, washed and finely chopped
1 tsp oil or ghee
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
pinch of asafoetida granules
1-2 tbsp of fresh coconut scrapings for garnishing

INSTRUCTIONS

Wash and soak 1/2 cup yellow moong dal (husked and split moong) in 2-3 cups of water for 1 hour. Drain in a mesh strainer for 15 minutes or so.
In a medium bowl, mix the chopped cucumber, lemon juice, salt, coriander leaves and toss well.
In a small tempering ladle, heat 1 tsp ghee or oil – splutter the mustard seeds, add the asafoetida, stir for a few seconds and toss this on the kosumalli.
Garnish with fresh coconut scrapings.

For D, Candice and all other interested parties:

INGREDIENTS

vegetable/canola oil
4 cans of (dark or light) red kidney beans (a.k.a. rajma) – Progresso is best, stay away from Bush’s
1 14 oz. can of diced, steamed, peeled tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste
2 onions, chopped into little cubes
5 garlic cloves, chopped into little bits
1 green chili, chopped into little bits
1 tsp fresh grated ginger1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp garam masala powder
6 cilantro sprigs

INSTRUCTIONS

- Heat oil in a pan – oil should form a thin film over entire cooking surface. Once oil is hot, add cumin seeds and heat until seeds sizzle. Add chopped onions and garlic and and stir until onions are translucent.

- Add 1 tbsp of tomato paste and 1/2 tsp of garam masala and mix all pan contents thoroughly. [Many add garam masala along with rajma and other spices at this point, but I like to work the garam masala into the dish in stages.]

- Add the can of diced tomatos. Stir thoroughly. Add 1/2 tsp of garam masala and mix in.

- While tomato cooks down, open and add all four cans of rajma. Add the rest of the garam masala and all other spices and stir.

- Bring the flame down to a simmer and cook until the rajma has a thick, gravy-like consistency. Make sure you don’t overcook and make the beans mushy. Add salt to taste at this stage.

- Remove pan from fire and let sit for a while. Add cilantro as garnish. Serve with naan, chapatis or rice or eat a whole bowl sans carbs like I do.