Samber

Posted by : Pragya Bansal

Ingredients

For Tamarind pulp

• 1 tsp Tamarind
• ⅓ cup hot Water

For Cooking Dal

• ½ cup tur dal or arhar dal (pigeon pea lentils) – 100 grams
• 1 small bottle guard
• 1 tablespoon Peas
• Half potato
• 1 tablespoon french Beans
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric
• 1tsp salt or as required
• 1.5 to 1.75 cups water or add as required

For Cooking Vegetables

• 1 to 2 drumsticks – scraped and chopped in 3 to 4 inches sticks.
• 6 to 7 pearl onions (sambar onions) or 1 small to medium onion, thickly sliced
• 2 tomato – small to medium, quartered or diced
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
• ½ teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder – optional
• salt as required
• 1.5 to 2 cups water or add as required

Important Ingredient

• 1 to 1.5 tablespoons Sambar Powder
• For Tempering
• 2 tablespoos oil
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• 2 bay leaf
• 2 to 3 dry red chilly
• 5 curry leaves

Method / Process

• Soak the Tamarind in hot Water for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Once the Tamarind gets soft, then squeeze the Tamarind in the Water itself.
• Discard the strained Tamarind and keep the Tamarind pulp aside.
• Rinse Tuvar Dal a couple of times in Water.
• Drain all the Water and add the Dal in a 2 litre pressure cooker. Also add ¼ tsp Turmeric Powder and Salt.
• Add 1.5 to 1.75 cups Water and mix vegetables . Cover and pressure cook Dal for 7 to 8 whistles or 9 to 10 minutes on medium heat.
• When the pressure settles down on its own, open the lid and check the Dal. The Dal should be completely cooked and mushy.
• Mash the Dal with a spoon or wired whisk. Cover and keep aside.
• In a small pan or tadka pan, heat 2 tsp Oil. Add ½ tsp Mustard Seeds. Let the Mustard Seeds crackle.
• Then add 1 dry Red Chillies.
• Immediately add 5 Curry Leaves, Be careful as the Oil splutters while adding Curry Leaves.Fry them till the Red Chilies change color and Curry Leaves become crisp.
• Take the chopped vegetables in a pan (1 Onion (thickly sliced) when Onion turn little brown add 2 Tomato purii and mix them.
• Sprinkle Turmeric Powder, Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder and Salt as per taste.
• Once the vegetables are almost cooked, then add the Tamarind pulp and 1 to 1.5 tsp Sambar Masala and mix .
• Add one tsp Sugar if u like.
• Add the mashed Dal. Mix again very well. Simmer on a medium-low heat till the Sambar comes to a boil.
• You will see a frothy layer on top when the Sambar begins boiling. At this step switch off the heat. Cover and set aside.