Recipe - Ordinary Sambar (Kuzhambu)

One half cup Red Gram Dal (Pigeon Peas,
Toor Dal); Picked Over &
Rinsed
2 cup Water
A LemonSized Piece Of
Tamarind Pulp
1 cup Hot Water
2 Green Chillies (Chili
Peppers); Slit Sideways
1 cup Mixed Vegetables; Chopped
(e.G. Radish, Onion, Okra,
Eggplant, Sweet Pepper,
Potato)
1 cup Water
Salt; To Taste
One half teaspoon Ground Turmeric
3 teaspoon Sambar Powder
1 tablespoon Rice Flour; Optional
2 tablespoon Extra Water; Optional
1 small Bunch Of Coriander Leaves,
Chopped; For Garnish

FOR TEMPERING
1 tablespoon Oil (To 1 One half Tbsp.)
1 tablespoon Brown Mustard Seeds
One half teaspoon Asafoetida Powder
One half teaspoon Fenugreek Seeds
One half teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1 Red Chili (Chili Pepper);
Halved
A Few Curry Leaves

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 neccessary. Chop into One half in. pieces. Set aside.

TEMPERING: Heat 1 One half tablespoons oil in a heavy saucepan. Add the mustard
seeds, asafoetida powder, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, halved red chilli,
and a few curry leaves.

When the mustard seeds splutter, add the slit green chillies 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.
Recipe By : Dakshin by Chandra Padmanabhan

Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #291

Date: Sun, 10 Nov 1996 13:25:58 0800

From: sweber@ix.netcom.com (Sharon Raghavachary)