Onion Sambhar

 

Sambhar is one of my favourite dal. This is a South Indian preparation with as many variations as households.  There variations in the spices and ingredients and it always tantalises the palate. It is eaten with rice, dosa, idli or mendu vada.  Till now I used to use the ready-made sambhar powder and very much in the way I prepare most lentils that is boil them make the masala or add onions garlic ginger chillies tomatoes once the lentils have boiled and then temper it with different ingredients. For sambhar that generally mean tempering with mustard seeds, pinch of asafoetida, a teaspoon of urad dal (black gram lentil), a teaspoon of channa dal (split chickpea) and a few curry leaves. It was good sambhar and have enjoyed it for years but recently I got some instructions from a friend about how to make sambhar and the use of freshly ground spices as taught to her by her mother in law. Now this is the kind of recipe that’s valuable and is passed down the generations.

Ingredients

• 150 grams of tuvar dal (split pigeon pea lentils) alternately you can also use masoor dal (red lentils)
• 15 – 20 baby onions (if you do not have these tiny onions you can use 1 large onion cut into chunks. I used frozen baby onions as that is what I had) You can add more onions if you wish.
• 1 table spoon of tamarind paste
• ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 1 table spoon of olive oil or any vegetable oil
• ¾ teaspoon of mustard seeds
• ¼ teaspoon of asafoetida
• 10 – 12 curry leaves

For sambhar powder –

• 1 teaspoon channa dal (split chickpeas)
• 1 teaspoon urad dal (black gram lentil)
• 8  small red chillies or 4 large ones
• 2 teaspoon coriander seeds
• ¼ teaspoon methi (fenugreek seeds)
• 1 pinch of asafoetida

 

Method

• Wash and clean the lentils. Put in a pan cover them with an inch of water and boil. You can also cook it in a pressure cooker. Once cooked put them aside.
• Put all the sambhar powder ingredients in a frying pan and roast the spices over a hot flame. Stir to ensure it does not burn. In a couple of minutes, you will smell the aroma of the roasted spices. Remove from the pan into a plate so that they can cool down.
• Add the oil and mustard seeds in a saucepan and heat till the mustard seeds start to crackle. Add the asafoetida and curry leaves.
• Then add the onions to the pan. Sauté it for a couple of minutes and add a cup of water, tamarind paste, salt and turmeric powder. Stir and leave it to cook for till the onion softens which should be within 2 – 3 minutes.
• While the onion is cooking take the cooled roasted spices and grind them in a spice or coffee grinder. It does not have to be finely powdered. Some coarse bits are good as they thicken the sambhar nicely. You will get around 2 table spoons of powder.
• Once the onions are cooked add the cooked lentils and the sambhar powder.  Add another cup of water and stir well. Bring to a boil and simmer for a couple of minutes.
• Serve straight away or you can reheat and serve later so this can be prepared in advance.

Tips

1. As suggested in the ingredients you can use red lentils as well which is useful as they cook a lot faster than tuvar dal. I do not use a pressure cooker and find that it is easier to cook tuvar dal by soaking it in hot water. Leave for an hour or so. The check the water level and reheat the pan and bring the lentils to a boil. Again, leave it to cool while the lentil actually gets slow cooked. The third time I just cook it on a medium to low flame or 1 -3 on an electric hob till it is cooked. It takes about 30 – 40 minutes.
2. Also if you do not get baby onions you can use shallots or red onion as they taste sweeter than white onions.
3. I have it on good authority that you can make mixed veg – onions, beans, drumstick, aubergine, potato, gourd, muli (white raddish) or even pumpkin sambhar. The trick is to cook the vegetables before adding the cooked lentils and sambhar powder.
4. You can use fresh tamarind where you soak a handful and then squeeze the pulp for use or indeed use lemon juice. The sourness of the sambhar can be adjusted to your taste. Similarly, the heat in the sambhar powder can be adjusted to your tasted by increasing or decreasing the red chillies.
5. You can add coriander leaves as garnish on top.