Tales for taste buds: Sambhar and Sambhar Powder

Sambhar is one of the traditional recipes made in every South Indian home without which idlis, doshas are incomplete. So here is a recipe for sambhar right from how to make sambhar powder from my grandmother's kitchen.

For Sambhar Powder:

PREP TIME	COOK TIME	TOTAL TIME
5mins	5-10mins	10-15mins

For Sambhar:

PREP TIME	COOK TIME	TOTAL TIME
15mins	30mins	45mins

Serves:- 4-5

INGREDIENTS:-
For Sambhar Powder:

Coriander Seeds - 3 glass
Red chillies - 100 gms
Urad dal - 3/4th glass
Channa Dal - 250 gms
Hing/Asafoetida - 45 gms
Whole Pepper - 2 tbsp
Fenugreek/Methi Seeds - more than 1/4th glass less than 1/2 glass
Turmeric powder - 2tbsp
Curry leaves/ Kadipatta - 1 hand full
Oil - 2 tsp

For Sambhar:

Tur Dal/pigeon pea lentils - 1 and a 1/2 vati or 1/2 glass
Onion- 1 sliced and not finely chopped
Tomatoes - 2 finely chopped
Drumstick- 3- 4 (Cut to finger length)
Lady's Finger/ Okra - 12-14 (small ones cut into two halves) if big ones take 9
Tamarind Pulp- one lemon sized tamarind ball and soak it in water and remove the pulp. or you can use 3 tbsp of readily available tamarind paste (dilute it in water before adding).
Red chilli Powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1tsp for the dal and 1/2 tsp for drumstick while boiling it
Sambhar Powder - 3 -4 tbsp according to how spicy you want it
Oil - Preferably coconut oil to get the authentic flavour 2 tbsp
Salt - for taste
Coriander Leaves- for garnishing

P.S:- You can use other vegetables too such as carrot,eggplant etc.

For tadka:

Mustard Seeds- 1 tsp
Fenugreek Seed/ Methi Seeds - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves/ Kadipatta - 1 or 2 stems
Red chilli - 2
Asafoetida/ Hing- a pinch or 2
Sambhar Powder- 1 tsp (for flavour) optional
Coconut Oil - 1 and a 1/2 tbsp

METHOD:-

For Sambhar Powder:

First put some oil only required for hing/ asafoetida into the kadai.
Then put all other ingredients together except turmeric powder.
Keep stirring till the time the curry leaves can be powdered.
Once you achieve this you can take the kadai off the gas and then after 2 mins add the turmeric powder.
After that grind everything together and keep the powder refrigerated.

For Sambhar:

Pressure cook tur dal for 3-4 whistles in a pressure cooker and mash the dal with a spoon once you take it out of the cooker.

First take the chopped drumsticks add a little salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and water and boil it only till it gets cooked. do not over cook it that the drumstick ends up breaking. keep it aside once its done

Now take some coconut oil, if you don't have coconut oil you can use normal oil and heat it in a deep pan.
Once the oil gets heated add the lady's finger/okra and fry it til it gets slightly brown from the edges.

Once that is done add the chopped onions and fry it till it turns transparent.

After that add the tomatoes and saute it.

Then add the tamarind pulp after dilutng it in water, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt. Let the lady's finger/ okra, onions and tomato boil in this for 5-10 mins, so that the vegetables retain the tamarind flavour well.

Once this is done add the dal and drumstick to this mixture and also add some water as per your requirement to reduce the consistency.

Once you add the dal and drumstick take the sambhar powder in bowl dilute it with some water and add to the sambhar. If you add the sambhar powder directly, it will form lumps in the sambhar.

Check the salt and add if required. you can also add little more red chilli powder if u want it more spicy.
Leave the sambhar to boil, while we prepare the tadka side by side.
For the tadka take coconut oil in a pan and heat it. Once the oil is heated add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds let it crackle. once it starts crackling add the curry leaves and red chilles and hing/asafoetida. Take the pan off the heat and before you pour the tadka into the sambhar add little sambhar powder to the tadka and immediately pour the tadka to the sambhar.