Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup Toor dal
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
- 3 tsp Sesame oil
- 1 pinch Asafoetida
- 10 Shallots/Small onions
- 1 Carrot
- 1 Drumstick
- 1 Tomato
- 1 Radish
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
- 1/2 cup Coriander leaves, loosely packed
- 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp Urad dal
- a pinch of Fenugreek seeds
- Gooseberry sized Tamarind, soaked
- 3 tsp Sambar powder
- 1 tsp Salt or as needed
- 2 cups Water
Recipe:
Peel the shallots. Slice all the vegetables. Soak the tamarind in 1/2 cup water and extract it.
Take toor dal in a pressure cooker, wash it till water runs clear and strain it.
Pressure cook it for 3 whistles on medium to high flame with turmeric powder, asafoetida, 1 tsp sesame oil and 1 and a 1/2 cup of water.
In a pan heat 2 tsp oil and add mustard seeds. Once it splutters, add urad dal and fenugreek seeds. Let them turn brown. Do not burn them.
After that, add in the shallots and all the chopped vegetables along with curry leaves and coriander leaves. Sauté for a few minutes. The vegetables will start to change colour.
Add the extracted tamarind water, sautéed vegetables, sambhar powder and salt to the cooked dal. Mix them all together. Close the lid and cook on medium to high flame for another 3 whistles.
Open the cooker after the steam settles. Serve Sambhar with rice and papad.
Notes:
- Water required may vary according to the quality of dal.
- Check the water content after adding the vegetables and tamarind extract. If the available water is not enough to cook the vegetable add more. Be cautious while adding more water though. If more than required is added the sambhar will be too runny and it might overflow while cooking.
