Sambar is a south-Indian style dal where toor dal is cooked with freshly ground spices. Here, the vegetable used in radish. Sambar is a staple in my kitchen. Sambar is called ‘huli’ in kannada. Either sambar or rasam will be in my menu at least 5 times a week and we never get tired of it.
Ingredients
For The Sambar
1 cup radish
2 tablespoon sambar powder
1 cup pigeon pea (toor dal)
A small piece tamarind
A small piece jaggery
Salt to taste
A few coriander leaves
For Tempering2 tablespoon ghee
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
5-6 curry leaves
1 dry red chilli
A generous pinch hing
Method- Soak tamarind in ½ cup water for 15-20 minutes. Extract tamarind water and discard the pulp. Set aside
- Wash toor dal and boil it with sufficient water until completely done. Lightly mash it and set aside
- Wash and peel radish. Cut them into roundels
- In a pan or kadhai, add radish, tamarind extract, jaggery, sambar powder, salt, and 2 cup water. Bring to boil, cover and simmer until the radish is completely cooked
- Add the toor dal and simmer for 5 minutes. Add some water to adjust the consistency if required
- In a small pan, heat ghee and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add cumin seeds, dry red chilli, hing and curry leaves. Saute for a few seconds
- Pour this tempering onto the sambar
- Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.