Recipe - Sambar - Lentils With Vegetables

1 lg Onion, chopped into big
pieces
Vegetables, like carrots,
sweet potatoes, pumpkin,
Some curry leaves (if
available)
Coriander leaves chopped 1T
(cilantro)
Tamarind size of perhaps 1/2
to Three fourths cup, juice of
Thoor dal (cooked)
Salt to taste
Three fourths teaspoon Turmeric powder
Three fourths teaspoon Mustard seeds
One half teaspoon Fenugreek seeds (optional)
1 teaspoon Oil
2 teaspoon Coriander seeds
1/8 teaspoon Asafoetida (hing)
2 teaspoon Chana dal
10 Whole red chilis, to taste
(up to 15)
3 teaspoon Coconut (shredded) (up to 6)

(1) Fry coriander seeds, asafoetida, chana and chilis and grind with
coconut, use shredded dried if too lazy to deal with fresh. The quantity
of coconut varies according to taste.

(2) Fry the onion for about 5 minutes in a little oil with the turmeric
powder. Add the vegetables and some water and cook. I would add hard to
cook veg gies like carrot and chatyote first and cook for a while before
adding sweet potatoes and pumpkin. (Can make this also with a single
vegetable, no need to use all of them.) Don't overcook veggies, but when
just cooked, add the tamarind juice, curry leaves and salt to taste,

(3) Soon after adding the tamarind juice, take a separate frying
pan and heat up the 1T oil. When hot enough so that the mustard seeds will
crackle when thrown in, put the mustard seeds in, once the crackling has
stopped add the fenugreek seeds and stir until they turn a dark brown
color (don't burn). Then add this the boiling mixture.

(4) Boil all together for another 5 minutes until the raw tamarind smell
has left the solution. Now add the paste of masala and coconut and add the
dal. Bring to a boil and switch off. Add chopped cori ander leaves.

(5) Takes 23 hours for the flavour to settle down, but can be eaten
right away also.

NOTES: Vegetables that must NOT be used are those that belong to the
cabbage and caulflower families.

While frying ingridients for the paste, throw in the coriander seeds
first and fry a while before putting in the others, otherwise the coriander
seeds won't fry properly and will taste pretty awful.

Source: radhika@cs.washington.edu
Posted to EATL Digest 16 November 96

Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 14:26:53 +1000

From: "I. Chaudhary" imranc@ONTHENET.COM.AU