Sambhar

Sambhar is a south Indian dish made with lentils (usually toor dal) and vegetables and served with rice, idlis or dosa optionally topped with a spoon of ghee.

The variations in sambhar depends on the vegetable/combination of vegetables used. The common types of sambhar that are made are onion sambhar, murungakkai (drumstick) sambhar, mulangi (radish) samhar, manga (raw mango) sambhar, vendakka (ladies finger) sambhar, Potato Sambhar, Masoor Dal Sambhar, Pasi paruppu (Green gram dal) sambhar etc.

Ingredients

• Pigeon Peas (Toor dal) - 3/4 cup (You can also use masoor dal or green gram dal or a combination of dals)
• Vegetables (any choice of a single/mixed vegetables) - 1 cup (The choice of vegetables can include brinjal, potato, radish, drumstick, spinach, shallot onions, tomato, raw mango, carrot, zucchini, yellowsquash, lima beans, pumpkin, yam, taroroot, okra, knolkhol etc)
• Shallot Onions - 8- 10 (or 1 onion chopped)
• Green Chilly - 1 or 2
• Tomatoes - 1
• Tamarind Juice - 1 1/2 tblsp
• Sambhar powder (store bought or home made) - 1 tblsp (you can increase to your taste)
• Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds - 5-7 seeds
• Dry red Chillies - 2
• Curry leaves - 2 strands
• Cilantro - for garnish

Method

1. Boil the toor dal with the tomato, 2.5 cups of water and optionally 2 cloves of garlic. You can cook it using the pressure cooke for 3 whistles. Alternatively cook it in a normal vessel till it is a bit overcooked and is almost mashed up.
2. After the pressure is released, mash the dal using the back of a spoon or with hand.
3. Heat oil in a  deep vessel and splutter the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, dry red chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida.
4. Saute the onions and green chillies.
5. Add the veggies to this and cook it till the veggies are soft with enough water.(Alternatively you can cook the vegetables using a microwave and add it. You can also cook the vaggies along with the dal in the cooker itself. If you have a double decker pressure cooker container, you can cook the dal in one and the veggies in the other.)
6. After the veggies are cooked, add the tamarind juice, salt, sambhar powder and the mashed dal.
7. Add enough water and bring it to a boil. Reduce the flame and simmer for 20 minutes for the flavours to blend. A nice aroma of sambhar will be filled throughout the house.
8. Garnish with finely chopped cilantro and switch off.

Serving Suggestion

• Hot sambar is best to be served with hot rice, idlis or dosa varieties.
• You can add a tsp of ghee on the sambhar while serving to enhance the flavour.

Tips

• You can add little coconut milk/grated coconut while cooking the sambhar for a nice taste.
• You can also make masoor dal sambhar, green gram (pasi paruppu) sambhar too.
• You can also skip the tamarind and add 2-3 additional tomatoes to make sambhar. Usually this is done for making idli sambhar.
• Some people like to add a spoonful of sugar or jaggery to the sambhar.
• When you make the sambhar with home made spice mix (sambhar powder), it is called arachu vitta sambhar.