TRADITIONAL SOUTH INDIAN SAMBHAR

TRADITIONAL SOUTH INDIAN SAMBHAR

Sambhar Recipe ingredients and preparation

Sambhar or Sambar is a traditional South indian recipe.

The key ingredients are for making Sambar are:

1. yellow lentils also called as tuvar , tur or arhar dal and
2. various vegetables mixed with
3. spices mixture or sambar powder, grated coconut and tamarind juice.

The vegetables that we can use in sambhar are:

• eggplant (baingan, vangi) ,
• drumsticks
• shallots
• ladyfingers/okra  (bhindi, bhendi),
• yam (suran),
• colocasia (arbi, arvi),
• bottlegourd (lauki, ghia, doodhi),
• pumpkin (petha),
• french beans
• radish,
• potatoes,
• raw banana.

You can also use your own choice of vegetables.

The spices that are used in Sambhar are:

• coriander seeds,
• mustard seeds,
• fenugreek seeds,
• cumin seeds,
• asafoetida,
• turmeric,
• peppercorns,
• raw rice,
• gram dal (chana dal),
• black gram (urad dal),
• curry leaves,
• red chillies.

There are many versions of making sambar powder. More or less combinations of the above spices are roasted and then ground into sambar powder. Sambar powder can be added directly to the dal-vegetable mixture when making sambar. Skipping one or two other ingredients will make a subtle change in the flavor and taste of sambhar. But nothing to worry about.

If making fresh sambar masala paste, then these spiced are roasted or fried with or without onions in coconut oil or in any good vegetable oil. Then they are mixed with grated fresh coconut, then made into a fine paste. This paste is the ground sambhar masala. Later this paste is added to the cooked dal and half- cooked vegetables along with tamarind pulp. Please note that this ground masala has to be used soon after it is made. You cannot store it as it has fresh coconut and it spoils if kept for a long time.

After the sambar is done it is tempered with a fried mixture of curry leaves, red chillies, asafoetida, fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds.

The taste of sambar made made with the coconut-spices paste is different from the one made with sambhar powder. Both taste good, but the tastes are different. Here you will find the link for an easy method of making sambhar in less time using the sambhar powder