Ordinary Sambar (Kuzhambu)

Recipe Ingredients

1/2 cup	118ml	Red gram dal
2 cups	474ml	Water
		A lemon-sized piece of tamarind pulp
1 cup	237ml	Hot water
2		Green chiles - sliced
1 cup	62g / 2.2oz	Mixed vegetables - chopped (e.G. Radish onion, okra, eggplant
1 cup	237ml	Water
		Salt - to taste
1/2 teaspoon	2.5ml	Ground turmeric
3 teaspoons	15ml	Sambar powder
1 tablespoon	15ml	Rice flour - optional
2 tablespoons	30ml	Extra water - optional
1		Ch coriander leaves - chopped, for garnish
		For Tempering
1 tablespoon	15ml	Oil - (to 1 1/2 tbsp.)
1 tablespoon	15ml	Brown mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon	2.5ml	Asafetida powder
1/2 teaspoon	2.5ml	Fenugreek seeds
1/2 teaspoon	2.5ml	Cumin seeds
1		Red chiles - halved
		A few curry or bay leaves

Recipe Instructions

Wash gram dal well. Drain. Place dal in a heavy saucepan. Cover with 2 cups water and bring to a boil. When boiling, cover pan with a lid, leaving slightly ajar. Stir several times during the last 30 minutes of cooking. Set dal aside without draining.

Soak the tamarind pulp in 1 cup hot water for 15 minutes. Strain the tamarind water into another container, squeezing as much liquid as possible out of the tamarind pulp. Discard the pulp. Set the juice aside.

Select enough vegetables to fill approx. 1 cup when chopped. Peel and prepare as necessary. Chop into 1/2 in. pieces. Set aside.

TEMPERING: Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in a heavy saucepan. Add the mustard seeds, asafetida powder, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, halved red chile powder, and a few curry leaves.

When the mustard seeds splutter, add the slit green chiles and chopped vegetables. Saute' for a couple of minutes. Add the tamarind juice, 1 cup water, salt to taste, ground turmeric, and sambar powder. Cover and simmer over low heat until the vegetables are tender. Add the undrained cooked dal. Simmer for 5 minutes, until thoroughly blended. If the sambar needs to be thickened, make a smooth paste of the rice flour in 2 tablespoons extra water. Add to the sambar and cook for 2 - 3 minutes.

Garnish with the chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice.

Notes: When two or three vegetables are used, there is a subtle blending of the different flavors of each vegetable. For a more distinctive flavor, make the sambar with only one type of vegetable. If potato is used singly, reduce the amount of oil added while tempering. Vegetables such as sweet pepper, onion, eggplant, okra, etc. will require a little more oil.

From Dakshin: Vegetarian Cuisine From South India by Chandra Padmanabhan.

Source:
Dakshin by Chandra Padmanabhan

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