Skip to main content

Sambar (Lentils and vegetable curry)


Ingredients

For cooking the dal

  • Toor dal - 1/2 C
  • Water - 2 1/2 C
  • Salt - to taste
  • Ghee - 1/2 t
  • Turmeric - a pinch

For Sautéing

  • Tomato, diced - 1
  • Brinjal, diced - 1
  • Onion, thinly sliced - 1
  • Vegetables : Ladysfinger, Ash gourd, Plantain, Carrots, Drumsticks
  • Ginger, thinly sliced - A small piece
  • Garlic cloves, thinly sliced - 1-2
  • Green chillies - 3
  • Turmeric powder - ¼ t
  • Coriander powder - 2 t
  • Chilly powder - 1 t
  • Sambar Powder - 2 T
  • Tamarind paste - ½ t
  • Cumin seeds/jeera : ¼ t
  • Coconut oil : ½ t
  • Salt to taste

For seasoning

  • Coconut oil - 1
  • Mustard seeds - 1 t
  • Fenugreek seeds - 3/4 t
  • Dry red chillies - 2
  • Asafoetida - 1/2 t
  • Curry leaves

For garnishing

  • Coriander leaves





Method

For cooking dal
  • Wash Toor dal thoroughly in water.
  • Along with water, turmeric powder, ghee and salt, cook washed dal in a pressure cooker, in medium heat, until it is cooked and soft. For me it takes around 4-6 whistles.

For the gravy
  • Heat oil in another deep vessel, and splutter cumin seeds.
  • Sauté sliced onions until they become soft and then add the thinly sliced ginger, garlic and green chillies and cook for a minute.
  • Add powdered spices like, turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilly powder and eastern sambar powder, one by one and sauté till the raw smell goes.
  • At this stage add diced tomatoes and other vegetables like diced baby brinjal, carrots, ash gourd, cubed plantains and lady fingers and drumsticks and mix the veggies in spices thoroughly, by stirring gently.
  • Add ½ - ¾ cup water or just enough to cook the veggies, tamarind paste and salt and cook till vegetables are soft.
  • Now add the pressure cooked dal to this mix and blend everything together.
  • Add water if the consistency is too thick.
  • Adjust the salt and bring it to a boil and remove from the heat.

For the tadka
  • In a small shallow pan, heat oil and splutter mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, dry red chillies and asafetida and some curry leaves.
  • Pour this over to the cooked dal and veggie mix.
  • Garnish with some coriander leaves.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hummus

How can I even dream of having a Pita bread without this yummy creamy dip --> Hummus of course. :) Like many other cuisines, Mediterranean was also introduced to me by my hubby dear. He loves Hummus and now, me too :D And thats how I ended trying to make it at home. Ingredients Yogurt - 1/4 C Garbanzo Beans / Chick Peas - 2 C Tahini (Sesame Seed Paste) - 1/2 C Lemon Juice - 1/2 C Garlic cloves - 3 Salt - 1/2 t Citric acid - 1/4 t Water - 2 T Mint Leaves - a few For garnishing Parsley - 2 T Cayenne Pepper or Paprika - 1 t Olive Oil - 1/4 C Method   In a food processor, add the garbonzo beans, garlic, lemon juice and salt, blend until smooth.  Next add yogurt, tahini, water, citric acid and mint leaves. Spread the hummus in a plate and garnish with parsley, cayenne pepper and olive oil. Serve with pita bread.

Announcing Veggie/Fruit A Month Event - Lemon

Days fly by so fast!! Really!! It feels just like yesterday that I hooked up for this wonderful event (Veggie/Fruit  A Month ) chartered by our dearest Priya of Mharo Rajasthan's Recipe . A huge thank you to you Priya for including me. :) Lemon is the star of the month.   Lemon   refers to both an evergreen tree and its yellow fruit. Lemon has n number of uses from the simple everyday lemon   juice (lemonade) to a lemon marmalade. Pickled lemons are also a very popular Moroccan delicacy.  Now coming back to the event there are some rules for this event - " Lemon " has to be the star ingredient in the dish. Prepare a vegetarian recipe (eggs are allowed) It has to be a brand new recipe folks, No archives please (breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert - the word is anything :)).  Use of the logo is mandatory to help spread the word about the event. Link your post to this announcement and to Priya's main event page.  Non bloggers are as always welcom

Vegetable Manchurian

Last day, as usual, I was hoping to cook something new. And thanks to the huge blogosphere, I was sure I would find something new. But the problem was, I did not know what to search! :D Finally, I hopped onto Aipi ’s ( US Masala ) blog. Not only is Aipi a great cook, but she is also an awesome photographer.  And that’s how I fell for her “Vegetable Manchurian”. Thank you gal! :D I could not follow her recipe ditto as I was out of a few ingredients. Still, it came out awesome. A liked it so much that he ate a lott. Well, it got over the same day :D What more can I ask for.  :) Ingredients For the Manchurian balls  Cabbage, grated – 1 C Carrot, grated – 1 C Green beans, chopped – 5 Onion, sliced – ¾ C Garlic, chopped – 3 Green chilli, chopped – 1 Soy sauce – 2 t All purpose flour – 6 T or as required Corn starch – 1 ½ T Rice Flour – 1 T Salt – to taste Black Pepper – to taste Oil – to fry  For the sauce  Oil – 2 t Ginger, chopped – 1” pc Garlic,