Today I decided to share the recipe of sambhar which is my favourite and favourite of everyone too. Sambhar is a famous south indian cuisine basically it is a lentil based vegetable stew cooked with pigeon pea (tuvar dal) and tamarind broth (pulp). Mainly when we make it as a vegetable we use only pumpkin, lady finger, tomato, drumstick etc. All the mentioned vegetables are boiled together in a pressure cooker with tuvar dal and turmeric powder (leaving lady finger as it becomes mushy and sticky) if you want you can also boil it in a cooking pot. Simiarly at our home when we make sambhar we use home made sambhar powder only which we make at our home itself. To make the gravy thick we add coarse coconut paste that is frying grated coconut without oil after it turns light brown in colour then add sambhar powder and red chilli powder (if you want spicy). Lastly for tempering mustard seeds, broken red chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida powder, roasted fenugreek powder and coriander leaves for taste. This is how my amma (mother) makes sambhar. There are many variations in sambhar too like mixed vegetable sambhar, drumstick sambhar, brinjal sambhar, lady finger sambhar, onion (small onion) sambhar, pumpkin sambhar etc.
Total Preparation time: 30 Minutes
Serves: 4
Author: Swaadisht Khana
Ingredients:
1. Tuvar Dal - 1 Cup
2. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
3. Oil - 4 tsp
4. Pumpkin - 250 gms
5. Tomato - 2
6. Lady Finger - 3 to 4
7. Drumstick - 1 to 2
8. Tamarind - 1 lemon sized ball
9. Mustard Seeds - 1tsp
10. Red Chillies (whole) - 2
11. Fenugreek Powder (Methi) - 1tsp
12. Asafoetida (Hing) - 1/2 tsp
13. Curry Leaves - 8 to 10
14. Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
15. Sambhar Powder - 3 to 4 tsp
16. Water - 2 cups
17. Salt as required
Method:
Step 1) Pressure cook dal and chopped vegetables (pumpkin, tomato, drumstick) in two cups of water with turmeric powder and salt for two to three whistles. Open lid once the pressure has reduced.
Step 2) Soak tamarind in half cup warm water, extract pulp and set aside.
Step 3) Shallow fry lady finger pieces in two spoons of oil.
Step 4) Fry the grated coconut in a kadai till golden brown. Now add sambhar powder and fry for a minute in low flame.
Step 5) Grind the coconut and sambhar powder with little water and keep aside.
Step 6) Now open the pressure cooker lid and pour the tamarind pulp and add fried lady finger, boil it for 5 minutes then add the grinded masala (step 5), boil it for another 3 minutes keep it in low flame.
Step 7) For Tempering:
In a kadai heat 2 tsp oil, add mustard seeds let it splutter then add broken chillies.
Switch off the flame add curry leaves, hing powder and fenugreek (methi) powder.
Delicious Sambhar is ready!!
Step 8) Serve hot with steamed rice/dosa/idli/medu vada etc.
Tip: Roasted fenugreek powder makes the gravy little thick and tasty.
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