Cabbage koshimbir and 'Chitchor'

Growing up, my mom enforced the age-old adage "clean your plate."  I was to eat everything served on my plate, even the vegetables. While I liked the few benign veggies like potatoes and peas as a kid, other vegetables like cauliflower and green beans ranked pretty low on my favorite food list. Cabbage in particular was not in my good books unless of course it was made into a koshimbir! Then it suddenly converted into an appetizing crunchy mix that I happily ate by the bowlful.  The traditional Marathi recipe includes shredded coconut but my mom always made it with coarsely ground peanuts.  The recipe below serves four.

In the seventies, there was a sudden spurt of films that deviated from the usual norm of stories that revolved around the extreme rich or the extreme poor.  Films like "Rajnigandha" and "Chotisi Baat" that had stories portraying the middle class were like a breath of fresh air.  One such film from the same director Basu Chatterji was "Chitchor." This light and simple tale set in a village has remarkably believable characters.  Not only do Amol Palekar, Zareena Wahab and Vijayendra fit in their respective roles, it is almost like the whole set of characters is woven from real life people.  This has Ravindra Jain's best music to date.

Ingredients
2 cups shredded cabbage
1 tomato chopped
2 tablespoons coarsely ground peanuts
Salt to taste
1 green chilli chopped
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon oil
Dash of Hing

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
Cilantro for garnishing

Method

1. Combine the shredded cabbage, chopped tomatoes and ground peanuts.
   
2. Add salt to taste.
   
3. Heat oil.  Add the cumin seeds.  When they splutter, add the hing and chopped green chillies.
   
4. Pour the above over the cabbage, add the lemon juice, and mix well.
   
5. Garnish with cilantro.