Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Sambhar

Sambhar is one of the famous and tasty dish of SouthIndia. In our house Sambhar is prepared atleast twice a week. When I go to a restaurant I always wish to grab my all time favorite dish Crispy dosa and sambhar. Sambhar is the best accompaniment for these famous dishes like idli, vada, pongal etc, I bet there is no better breakfast other than Idli, Pongal, Vadai, Sambhar & Chutney. Sambhar can be made with Shallots/small onions, drumstick, egg plant, capsicum, okra, & mixed vegetables. In this recipe we see how to make sambhar with drumstick.
 
Lets get into the recipe and see how we can prepare this delicious, lip smacking sambhar....
 
Ingredients:
 
3/4 Cup Tuvar Dal (Arhar Dal)
1 Red Chilly
2 Green Chiles
5 to 6 Shallots or Small Onions
Drumstick - 1 chopped into medium sized pieces
Tomato - 1 cut into small pieces
1/4 tsp Methi Seeds
11/2 tsp Sambhar powder
Curry leaves, a few
Hing (Asafetida), a small pinch
Salt 1 tsp (to taste)
Gingelly Oil (aca Sesame/Til Oil) - 2tsp
2 tsp Mustard
1/4 cup Tamarind Pulp
Coriander Leaves - Few for garnishing
Water - 1 cup
 
Method:
 
  1. Pressure Cook thuvar dal separately with extra water. Add a pinch of turmeric and a drop of oil before cooking the dal.
  2. Heat some oil in a pan, splutter mustard, then add methi, red chiili, green chiies, curry leaves, asafoetida , small onions and fry for a few minutes.
  3. Now add chopped drumstick, saute for few minutes. Add tomato pieces and cook for about 3 to 4 mins.
  4. Now add sambhar powder, tamrind pulp, salt, water and bring it to boil.Cook until the Drumsticks turn soft.
  5. Add the cooked thuvar dal and let it cook for a few more minutes or 10 mins approximately while stirring inbetween.
  6. Finally garnish the sambhar with coriander leaves.
Sambhar is ready to be served. Enjoy with plain rice or dosa or pongal or idli etc,
 
Tips: Keep the flame in medium throughout the cooking, as it will enhance the taste of the dish.
        Seasoning the samhbar with gingelly oil (aca sesame oil/til oil) will again improve the taste of the dish.
Drumstick Sambhar shouldn't be pressure cooked as the drumstick will be over cooked. It is ideal to cook drumstick in the tamrind pulp.
 
 
 
 
 

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