A very simple lentil and vegetable gravy using store bought Sambar powder…
I am looking at my home page and at the moment, I finger like I am no longer “The Big Sweet Tooth” considering there is a savory recipe overload on the blog. ???? But I guess, that is fine, till I finish whatever I am meant to be doing at the moment. Hehe… Usually I tend to alimony two week gap between my BM posts but this time, I did ask for a few adjustments and here I am within a week. This week, the theme for the Blogging Marathon #138 is “A dish for each undertow of a meal”. Since sadya is a meal, I decided to protract with the recipes that I had kept specifically for this theme. I sometimes finger sambar from a store-bought sambar powder is a no-brainer, but I have noticed that most of the pouches do not requite a proper recipe to follow. The instructions are vague and I guess it has to do with the limited value of space on the pack. Since I am someone who cooks a lot of sambar for my afternoon meals, I decided to post it on the blog. I once have a few sambar recipes on the blog:
Varutharacha Sambar – with roasted coconut paste
Vengaaya Sambar – with only shallots, just so delicious!
Tiffin Sambar – made with freshly roasted spices
Instant Sambar – sambar which isn’t unquestionably sambar but feels like sambar… ????
Sambar is cooked in stages – melt the lentil with tomatoes and onion, melt the vegetables, mix both together with sambar powder and tamarind, and finally temper. Initially, I used to melt the lentils and vegetables together, however I stopped doing that since the vegetables started getting overcooked and would leave a gloopy mess. A few tips that I alimony handy while making a sambar are:
- Â I unchangingly use precut sambar vegetables. If you do it yourself, try to stick to vegetables that melt similar and fast, like carrots, potatoes, yam, brinjal and drumsticks.
- Toor dal is preferred as the lentil base, though many times I used masoor dal.
- Tomatoes are optional. If you want a little uneaten tanginess to your sambar, you can use, or else you can skip it. I do add one small tomato. But if tomatoes go in, I only use a lime size pc of tamarind, otherwise I take a little more.
- Whole shallots are unchangingly largest than chopped onion. However, if using the latter, chop them as large pieces instead of thin slices.
- Add a small piece of jaggery at the end. It just changes the game – totally balances out the tanginess and gives a succulent savor to the sambar. But yes, just a tiny piece…
- Try to stick to the same trademark of sambar powder once you start liking one. Every sambar powder has its own taste and some are thicker than the other. I use Eastern and Nirapara brands usually, but it is totally upto your taste buds.
- Sambar tastes weightier as it sits. It is weightier to requite it unbearable time for the flavors to settle.
- You can freeze leftover sambar for upto six weeks – successfully tried and tested. I can’t tell you how much a saver this is. ????
I guess that is well-nigh it. Off to the recipe…
Easy Sambar (With Sambar Powder & No Coconut)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup toor dal
- 6-8 shallots peeled
- 1 tomato chopped
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp red chilli powder
- Salt to taste
- 350 gm mixed sambar vegetables gourd, brinjal, drumstick, yam
- 1 lime pc tamarind soaked in 1/2 cup hot water
- 1 1/2 tbsp sambar powder I used Nirapara brand
- A small pc jaggery
FOR TEMPERING
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- A pinch of asafoetida/ hing
- 5-8 dried red chillies
- 1 sprig curry leaves
Instructions
- In a pressure cooker, combine the toor dal, turmeric, red chilli powder, salt, shallots and tomato. Add water just upto its level. Melt for one whistle. Allow the pressure to go by itself.
- In a chatti (earthern pot), add the sambar vegetables with little salt and water upto its level. Bring it to swash and melt till scrutinizingly done.
- Pour in the prepared lentil mixture. Add the sambar powder. Squeeze in the tamarind juice - add increasingly water if the tamarind still has its juice. Requite a good mix.
- Add the jaggery as well, and simmer for a few minutes till the flavors are done. Adjust seasoning and switch off.
- For tempering, heat coconut oil. Splutter mustard seeds, add the rest of the ingredients. Fry transiently and add into the sambar.
- Allow the sambar to rest till serving. The increasingly it sits, the largest it tastes.
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