Spring Onion and Drumstick Leaves (Murungai Keerai) Sambar ~ Day 96

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Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Serves: 6

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Ingredients:

• Toor dal - 3/4 cup
• Tamarind - a golf ball-sized
• Spring onion - 1 bunch, trimmed and chopped
• Drumstick leaves (Moringa) - 1 cup, packed, roughly chopped
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Red chilies - 3
• Sambar powder - 2 tbsp
• Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Salt - to taste
• Curry leaves - few
• Oil - 1 to 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Soak tamarind in hot water for 15 minutes.  Squeeze the juice out, about 1 and 1/2 cups, and discard the pulp.  
2. In a pressure cooker, cook toor dal with enough water,  for 4 to 5 whistles or until soft and mushy.
3. Heat oil in a pan.  Splutter mustard seeds.  Add red chillies and saute for 5 seconds.
4. Add the chopped spring onion and saute for 2 minutes.  Add the drumstick leaves and curry leaves.  Saute for 5 minutes.
5. Add sambar powder, turmeric powder, asafoetida, and salt.  Mix well.
6. Add the tamarind pulp and 2 cups of water.  Boil for 10 minutes on medium heat.
7. Add the cooked, mashed toor dal.  Stir and bring it to a boil.  Remove from the heat.
8. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Mixed Vegetable Sambar ~ Day 38

Sambar is an ultimate comfort food of South India.  This vegetable, lentil stew is made with tamarind juice and spiced with sambar powder.  Sambar powder is a blend of roasted lentils, dried red chilies, coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds, ground into a fine powder.  

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Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves: 6

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Ingredients:

• Toor dal - 1 cup
• Tamarind - 1 lemon sized, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes.
• Mixed vegetables - 2 cups, roughly chopped (I used Green pepper, Carrot, Purple radish, Eggplant and Chayote squash) 
• Small onions - 10, peeled
• Tomatoes - 2, small, chopped
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Sambar powder - 3 tbsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Curry leaves - few
• Fresh coriander leaves 
• Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Pressure cook toor dal with 1/4 tsp turmeric powder in enough water for 4 to 5 whistles.
2. Extract the juice from the soaked tamarind and discard the pulp.  You need about 3 cups of tamarind juice.
3. Heat oil in a large saucepan.  Splutter mustard seeds.  Add the curry leaves and small onions and fry until slightly golden and soft.
4. Add the chopped vegetables and saute for 5 minutes.  Add the chopped tomatoes.  Cook for until soft. Add the sambar powder, turmeric powder, asafoetida and salt. Mix well and saute for 1 minute.  
5. Add the tamarind juice, mix well.  Bring it to a boil, simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
6. Mash the cooked door dal and add it to the boiling sambar.  Stir well.  Let it come to one boil and remove from the heat.
7. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
8. Serve with steamed rice, idli or dosai.

Sambar - Restaurant Style

Ingredients:
Toor Dal - 1 cup
Yellow Pumpkin - 1/2 cup (peeled and chopped)
Tamarind pulp - 1/2 cup (squeezed from a lemon sized tamarind)
Onion - 1 large (finely chopped)
Tomatoes - 2 (finely chopped)
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Urad Dal - 2 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Jaggery - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 TBSP
Few Curry leaves and Fresh Coriander leaves
Dry roast the following and grind to a fine powder:
Red Chilies - 5-6 or to taste
Coriander Seeds - 1 TBSP
Channa Dal - 1 TBSP
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Pressure cook toor dal and pumpkin with enough water until soft. Cooked dal should be very soft and mushy.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.  Let it splutter and add urad dal and fry until golden brown.
3. Add chopped onion and fry until translucent.  Add curry leaves and asafoetida.  Mix well.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until soft.
5. Add tamarind pulp and 1cup of water along with jaggery, salt and turmeric powder.  Let it boil for 5 minutes.
6. Now add the ground spice powder and cook for another 2 minutes.
7. Add the cooked dal.  Mix well.  Let it come to boil and remove from heat.  Add  fresh coriander leaves. 
8. Serve hot with idli or dosai.

Mini idli in Sambar

Sending this to CWS Event by Priya and hosted by Aruna.

Spinach and Ridge Gourd Sambar

Ingredients:
Cooked toor dal - 1 cup
Spinach - 1 cup (chopped)
Ridge gourd / Peerkkangai - 1 cup (peeled and cut into slices)
Tamarind - lemon sized
Sambar powder - 2 tsp
Channa dal - 1 TBSP
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Red chillies - 2-3 broken
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafetida - small pinch
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Curry leaves

Method:

1. Soak tamarind in water and squeeze out the extract.
2. Heat oil in a vessel and add the mustard , fenugreek seeds, red chillies and curry leaves.
3. Add  channa dal and fry till golden brown.
4. Add the vegetables and saute for a minute.
5. Add the tamarind extract along with 1-2 cups of water.
6. Add sambar powder, salt and asafetida.  Let it boil for 10 minutes.
7. Add the cooked toor dal and bring it to a boil.  Serve hot with rice.  

This goes to Divya's Healing Foods Events started by Siri.