Sambar

          Sambar is a vegetable stew or chowder based on a broth made with tamarind and toor dal, and is very popular in the cooking of southern regions of India especially in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.It accompanies most every meal.

Ingredients:

Toor dal - 1 cup
Drumsticks - 2 (cut into pieces)
Carrots - 2 (peel and cut them into pieces)
1 medium onion finely chopped(i prefer sambar onions)
1 small tomato finely chopped
Tamarind - lemon size ball(soak in water and squeeze the juice from it)
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds -1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chana dal -1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Red chilli - 3
Curry leaves - few
Oil - 3 tbsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp(optional)
Sambar powder - 2 tbsp(u can find recipe for this in my older posts,if u dont find time to prepare this u can use MTR sambar powder)
Cilantro -1 bunch(chopped)

Preparation:

1.Wash and clean the dal.Boil 2 cups of water and dal in a pressure cooker untill 4-5 whistles.Allow it to cool untill all the pressure goes off and mash the dal with spatula.
2.Heat oil in a pan,add mustard seeds,cumin seeds,fenugreek seeds,red chilli.When mustard seeds start spluttering,add chana dal,urad dal and curry leaves.
3.Add chopped onions and fry untill they become lightly brown.Add chopped tomatoes and fry till oil leaves the texture.
4.Add tamarind extract,2 cups of water and boil it for 10 minutes.Now add mashed dal,vegetables,sambar powder,asafoetida and cook till the vegetables are completely done.Take off from the heat.

   Garnish it with cilantro.Now sambar is ready for serving.Please post ur comments on this recipe.