Mullangi Sambar / Radish Sambar

INGREDIENTS

1 cup toordal

Onions - 1 medium sliced (You can also use pearl onions 10 nos if you wish)

Tomatoes - 2 medium chopped

Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup chopped

white radish - 1 medium, cut into circle shape.

Carrots - 2 medium sized . Cut into circle shape. ( or choose whatever veggie catches your fancy)

Tamarind extract - about 1 cup from a lime sized ball soaked in warm water for half an hour

turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

red chilli powder - 1 tsp

sambhar powder - 3 tsp (roasted and powdered- 1 tsp of chana dal, uraddal, coriander (dhania) seeds, fenugreek seeds (methi), jeera and shredded coconut)

Salt - as required.

You can add little bit jaggery or sugar if you like .

METHOD

Pressure-cook toor dal with turmeric in two cups of water. Mash and make a paste.Keep it aside.

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan, crackle some mustard seeds, jeera and curry leaves. Add onions, tomatoes and radish, sauté them

for few minutes.

Stir in the tamarind juice, salt, red chilli powder, sambhar powder and 1 glass water. Mix it well, cover with a lid. Bring the water to boil, then add mashed toor dal. Let it simmer for fifteen minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally, till the good aroma comes.

Serve hot with rice.

Vendakkai sambar (okra sambar)

Ingredients

1cup medium cut okra

½ cup medium cut onions

1cup thoor dal

1cup tamarind water

1cup tomato puree

1tsp dhaniya powder (coriander)

½ tsp turmeric powder

1-2 tsp sambar powder

Chopped fresh cilantro

Salt and water as per requirement.

For tempering

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp cumin seeds

Asafoetida

Red chillies

Curry leaves

2tsp oil or ghee

METHOD

Fry the okra in 2 tsp oil in a pan for 10 –13 min till it gets soft. Keep separately. In a saucepan add tamarind water, turmeric and salt and bring to boil. Now add the okra, onions, sambar powder and dhaniya powder and let it cook for another 10 minutes.

Add tomato puree to this and again it should come to a boil. Finally add pressure-cooked and mashed dal and stir together. Add water if the sambar gets too thick. That depends on how you want the sambar to be. Temper with given ingredients and add cilantro. A small tip. As soon as you temper, cover the sambar or rasam with a lid. This will keep the aroma trapped inside the dish and will later fill the whole house with mind blowing aroma.