Recipe

Sambar - Indian Recipe


SAMBAR - INDIAN Recipe
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This Sambar recipe is one of the most loved dishes in South Indian cuisine. It accompanies most every meal. In South India, there are variations to this sambar recipe, but this is the one I use.

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Ingredients
  • 1/2 lime sized ball Tamarind
  • 1 cup Toor Dal (or red lentils)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
  • 2 teaspoons oil
  • Salt to taste
  • 5 small dry red chilies (or to taste)
  • 8 Curry Leaves (see note)
  • 1 medium onion (shallots are preferable)
  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1/4 tsp asafoetida (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
  • 1 large tomato
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves (also known as coriander leaves)
  • 1 cup of a vegetable of your choice like green beans, chopped carrot, brinjal, ladies finger, drum-stick, potato
  • ----------------------------------------------------------
  • FOR SAMBAR POWDER
  • 1/2 cups coriander seeds
  • 1/2 cups red chilies (or to taste)
  • 1/8 cup Bengal gram
  • 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds
  • 1 Tbsp. pepper corn
  • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 pinch of cinnamon
  • 1 pinch ground clove
  • 1/2 tsp. Turmeric powder

Directions
  1. FOR SAMBAR POWDER
  2. fry the ingredients without any oil, and powder them
  3. ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  4. Soak the tamarind in 1 cup water for 20 minutes. Squeeze it out, adding water little by little to prepare 1 cup of juice.(pulp)
  5. Choose a heavy cooking pot. Wash and clean the dal. Boil 2 cups of water and add the dal, turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon of oil. As the dal boils, skim off the foam and discard. Boil until the dal is soft and then mash it coarsely. If needed, add more water as it is boiling but do not let it get too watery. If you use a pressure cooker it will take about 5 minutes.
  6. In a separate pan, heat to medium and pour in the remaining oil.
  7. Once the oil is hot, add the chilies, mustard seeds, fenugreek and curry leaves and sauté for 2 minutes.
  8. Add the onion and brown lightly.
  9. Add the tamarind extract and let boil lightly until the onions are cooked.
  10. Add this mixture to the dal with asafoetida, tomato, vegetable of choice and sambar powder.
  11. Allow this to boil for 5 to 10 minutes and remove from the heat.
  12. Garnish with cilantro.
  13. --------------------------------------------------------------
  14. Curry leaves are found in tropical climates. They add a wonderful piquancy to the Sambar recipe. I you do not have curry leaves do not substitute something else. They can be found in specialty shops that have Indian foods.

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Comments


Great post. Love Indian food and this one sounds magnificent. Great post. You have my 5.


I LOVE Sambar! I order it when ever I see it offered on a menu, which sadly it isn't offered enough in my opinion. I have never tried making it but I think I will now. Your recipe looks easy enough without complicating things,and I am SURE it tastes wonderful. Giving you a '5' on it even though I have not tried it yet. Thanks for sharing this with us all.


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