Hotel Tiffin Sambhar - டிபன் சாம்பார் - Step by step

    All south Indian hotels serve these sambhar as an accompaniment for idlies, dosas or pongal. The taste comes ,by grinding fresh spices . So I would recommend , to grind fresh spices for the sambhar. We can add any kind of veges. The secret of hotel sambhar is , they add little sweetness to the sambhar. Jaggery or sugar gives that magic touch. But don't add it more, then you would end up in sweet sambhar. I love this sambhar with anything. Kids will love too.

 

Ingredients:

1.Carrot                      -       1

2.Potato                      -        1

3.Beans                       -        5

4.Toor dal                   -        3/4 cup

5.Turmeric pwdr         -        1/4 tsp

6.Pearl onions             -         1 cup

7.Tomato                    -          1

8.Tamarind                 -          gooseberry size

9.Jaggery                    -          1 tbsp.

10.Salt                        -           to taste

11.Curry leaves          -           few

12.Cilantro                 -           few

13.Garlic                    -           1 or 2

14.Red chillies           -           2

 

To Roast and Grind:

1.Red chillies             -      6

2.Chana dal                -      1 bsp

3.Urad dal                  -       1 tbsp

4.Coriander seeds      -       2 tbsp

5.Cumin seeds           -       1 tsp

6.Methi seeds            -        1/2 tsp  

 

For tempering:

1.Oil                          -         1 tbsp.

2.Mustard seeds        -          1/4 tsp

3.Cumin seeds          -           1/4 tsp

4.Methi seeds           -            1/4 tsp

5.Hing                       -           a pinch

 

Method:

* Wash the vegetables. Cut the veges into length wise . Add enough water and cook the vegetables. Reserve the water cooked from the vegetables. We can use the water for the sambar.

 

* Take the ingredients for"to roast and grind" , in a pan. Roast the ingredients till golden brown. Cool the ingredients completely.

* Wash the toor dal . Take a pressure pan, add the washed toor dal, little oil, a pinch of hing,turmeric pwdr , garlic pods. Pressure cook the dal ,till it is mushy. When the dal is still hot, mash the dal using a ladle.

* Grind the roasted ingredients using a blender. Pulse it finely.

 

 



* Slice the pearl onions into two pieces, chop the tomato finely.Take a pan, add oil, splutter with mustard seeds, cumin seeds, methi seeds and hing.

 

* Add the sliced onion and curry leaves.Sprinkle some salt and sauté the onion, till it turns translucent.Add turmeric powder and mix it. 



 

* Add the tomato pieces and sauté it ,till it turns mushy. Sprinkle salt to the tomato. This will speed up the cooking process.

* Add water to the tamarind and extract the pulp from it. Add the tamarind extract to the pan and boil it.

* Add the cooked veges with the water. Mix it well and let the vegetables get mixed  .

* Add the roasted and grinded masala into the sambar.

* Now dump in the cooked dal into the pan. Bring it to boil.

* Now adjust salt to taste. Add the powdered jiggery to the sambar.

* At last ,add some curry leaves, chopped cilantro and red chillies. Cover the pan and let it get cooked in sim for atleast 10 minutes.

 

At last turn off the stove .Serve the sambar with hot idlies, dosas or pongal.!!! 

 

 

Notes:

* We can add whaterver vegetables ,we want.

* We can also try making sambar with moong dal. But toor dal works fine for me.

* Instead of  jiggery, we can also add some sugar.

* The amount of masala given can be altered according to our taste. If we want, we can also add some sambar powder to the sambar.

* Don't add so much tamarind pulp, then the sambar will taste sour.

* Adding red chillies at the end gives out nice aroma to the sambhar.

 

Linking this to "Tamizhar Samayal Tuesday" hosted by "Nalini Suresh".