Sambhar/lentil gravy(ground spices)

Ingredients :

Toor dal cooked – 1 Cup (If you have the water cooked along with it reserve it)

Tamarind – 1 tsp tamarind paste

Sambar onions/ shallots – 20 nos (peeled and washed)

Sambar powder – 1.5 teaspoon

Tomato chopped – 3/4 cup/ 1 can of diced tomatoes

Oil

Coriander leaves for garnishing – 1 handful

For the paste :

Coriander seeds – 1 teaspoon

Coconut – Freshly grated 1/4 cup

Red chilly – 3 nos

Method:

-In a thick bottomed wide skillet heat 1.5 tbsps of oil.
-Once it is smoking lower the flame to medium and add the shallots (don’t chop them unless they were more than of 1 inch size). Fry till the outer layer starts wilting and about to peel off.
-Now add the chopped toamtoes and saute till they become soft.
Add the Sambar powder, cooked toor dal and enough water to make it to a desired consistency. It should be like a thick soup. Add salt to taste and cover and let it boil for 7-10 minutes.
- When the dal mix is well boiled add this tamarind paste and let it boil for another 5 minutes.
-In the mean time in a separate thick bottomed vessel heat a tsp of oil and when hot add the coriander seeds and fry till you get a nice aroma. Add the chilies and fry till they turn crisp. Add the coconut and fry till the coconut starts browning. Switch off the stove and let this cool. Blend it to a coarse paste with very little water.

Add the ground paste and mix well. Let this boil for 2-3 mins and add a handful of chopped coriander leaves and switch off the stove. Cover vessel immediately.

or
1. Pressure cook 3/4 cup tur dal with turmeric powder and keep it aside. You can alternatively attempt to boil the dal directly on the stove top. But the sun will turn into a white dwarf by then and the Earth will become very cold so your effort might go in vain.
2. Soak a large lemon sized ball of tamarind in water and extract the pulp. Or go the NRI way we mentioned in an earlier post.
3. For masala, which is the key to a good arachuvitta sambar:
Coriander seeds (a big handful), chana dal (a small handful), dried red chillies (as many as the lining of your stomach can tolerate, but usually 4-5 for the above quantity of seeds - dry roast and grind to fine paste along with 2 handfuls of coconut and some water. You may choose to add a few black peppercorns to this if you want to make Rasavaangi (Rasavaangi, not rasavaandhi, is a dish that can make even brinjal taste palatable)
4. Cut vegetables of choice (onions / drumstick / carrot / radish) and boil this till done in the tamarind extract.
5. Mix in the cooked and mashed tur dal along with the ground masala and salt as per taste. As soon as this comes to a boil, remove from the stove, garnish with curry leaves, coriander leaves.
6. Heat some oil in a pan and temper some mustard seeds and a few fenugreek seeds. Once mustard seeds splutter, turn it over the sambar.
7. Serve hot with love and steamed rice. A “pototo roast” on the side is considered ideal.