Sambhar
Sambhar is a popular South Indian delicacy and is a perfect accompaniment for all breakfast dishes like Idli, Dosa, Medu wada, Uttapam and just about any South Indian snack. It is a lentil-based spicy soup or curry recipe made from a blend of toovar dal and masoor dal along with spices.
There are different types of Sambhar recipes practised across India. The perfect Sambhar is a blend of sweet-and-sour flavour. The tamarind pulp will provide the tanginess whereas the jaggery will balance with its sweetness. You can also add veggies of your choice like bottle gourd, shallots, baby brinjal etc but here I’ve shared this recipe without vegetables.
Do try this recipe and let us know how it turned out to be.
Ingredients
- 1 cup toovar(arhar) dal
- 1/4 cup masoor dal
- 2 tbsp tamarind pulp
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/8 tsp asafoetida
- 1 and 1/2 tsp red chilly powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/4 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp Sambhar masala
- 1 tsp jaggery (gud)
- 6-7 curry leaves
- 1 medium tomato chopped
- 1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
- Chopped coriander leaves
- 2 and 1/2 cups water
- 2 dried red chilli
- Salt to taste
How to prepare
- Soak toovar dal and masoor dal in water for half an hour.
- Wash both the dals a few times and pour 3 and 1/2 cups of water along with turmeric powder and salt and pressure cook for 4 whistles and thereafter allow it to cook for 5 minutes on slow flame.
- Switch off the flame and allow depressurizing naturally. Blend the dal with the help of a blender till it is smooth and keep aside.
- Heat oil in a deep vessel and add asafoetida, cumin seeds, mustard seeds and dry red chilly.
- Once the mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves and tomatoes to it and allow the tomatoes to be a little mushy.
- Add tamarind pulp, jaggery, cooked dal, 2 and 1/2 cups of water and sambhar masala.
- Season the Sambhar with spices like red chilli powder, coriander powder and salt to taste and bring it to boil and allow to cook on a medium flame for 8-10 minutes, while stirring occasionally.
- Add coriander leaves, mix well and serve hot.
