Sambar

The recipe for today is sambar. Sambar south Indian dish best eaten with Idli, Dosa, medu vada or just plain rice. It is a sumptous lentils or vegetable stew cooked with toor dal. To make authentic sambar you would need to make the smabar masala from scratch. But in this recipe I am showing you how to make sambar from store bought sambar masala. But if would like to make the sambar masala from scratch please visit www.vahrevah.com from chef Thumma.

Ingredients:

Ingredients:

½ cup toor dal

3 tablespoon of sambar masala

1 teaspoon of tumeric

1 teaspoon of mustard seeds

1 teaspoon of asafoetida

curry leaves

3 dry red chillies

1 tablespoon of garlic

1 red onion chopped

½ cup coconut milk

1 potato diced

1 tomato chopped

¼ cup jaggery

1 tablespoon tamarind extract

salt to taste.

Preparation time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 10 mins

Wash and cook the dal in pressure cooker for 15 minutes under pressure or cook it on a stove until it is tender. Mash the dal evenly and add little water if necessary.

In a pan heat oil and add mustard seeds. Once the seeds start popping add the asafoetida, turmeric and curry leaves. Add the red chillies and saute for 30 seconds. Add the garlic and onion and saute until onions become translucent.

Add the potatoes and any other vegetables you may want to use (eggplant or drumsticks go best with the sambar along with potatoes). Add the sambar masala and tamarind juice to the pan. Saute for a minute and add the coconut milk to the pan cook for further 2 minutes.

Add the cooked dal to the pan and add a cup of water and bring to boil. Once the sambar comes to boil add the jaggery and tomatoes. Add salt to taste and simmer until the vegetables are cooked.

Serve with Idli, dosa or medu vada.