Quickie Sambar

My friends and sister have been complaining that A) I don’t post often B) I post crazy time-consuming recipes and C) That I have no common sense

(Hmm!!??!! I’m not quite sure that I like complaint number 3 grr! Lol!)

Anyway, I’m going to post some ultra simple recipes for a while now, till I’m bored I guess.

I’ll start with the humble (but my favorite) sambar.

I’m not a patient person. I normally don’t have the time to make elaborate dishes on a daily basis. This is my easy-to-cook recipe for sambar ( I hate the ones made using ready-made sambar powder. EW!).

This takes just a few minutes to cook and I manage to bathe and dress between the cooking intervals ;) What’s more, this tastes best on the 2nd day. So I don’t have to cook for a few days. Yeah, well I never said I wasn’t a lazy mutt.


The Quickie Sambar

Ingredients

To pressure cook
Toor dal – 3/4th cup
Tomatoes (Roma or the Indian variety) – 2
Turmeric powder – 3/4th tsp
Onion sliced – 1 (medium sized)

To temper
1. Ghee – 1 ½ tsp
2. Mustard – ½ tsp
3. Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp
4. Dry red chillies – 3 (broken in half)
5. Curry leaves – 10
6. Red chilly powder – 2 level tsp (or adjust according to taste, because the brand I get here is not very hot)
7. Coriander powder – 2 heaped tsp
8. Asafetida powder – ½ tsp
9. Tamarind paste – 3/4th tsp mixed with 2 tsp water (adjust according to your preference)
10. Vegetable(s) of your choice – 1 ½ cup (Note: if you’re using Lady’s Finger, fry it lightly first before adding)
11. Coriander leaves – ½ cup chopped

Method:

- Pressure cook the toor dal, onion, tomatoes and turmeric powder till cooked
(I keep it for 6 whistles as I like it really mashed :D)
- Lightly mash them together with a ladle and keep aside

- Heat the ghee
- Add the mustard seeds
- When they begin to pop add the fenugreek seeds, red chillies, curry leaves and sauté for 20 seconds on medium flame
- Remove from flame and add the chilly powder, coriander powder and asafetida and fry till the raw smell leaves
- Combine this with the mashed dal mixture and cook on medium flame
- Add the vegetables and tamarind paste and cook for 10-15 minutes on medium-low flame
- Garnish with coriander leaves