Sambar

This Sambar recipe is one of the most loved dishes in South Indian cuisine. It accompanies most every meal. In South India, there are variations to this sambar recipe, but this is the one I use.

Ingredients: 

1/2 lime sized ball Tamarind
1 cup Toor Dal (or red lentils)
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
2 teaspoons oil
Salt to taste
5 small dry red chilies (or to taste)
8 Curry Leaves (see note)
1 medium onion (shallots are preferable)
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida (optional)
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 large tomato
2 tablespoons sambar powder (see note)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves (also known as coriander leaves)
1 cup of a vegetable of your choice like green beans, chopped carrot

Directions:
Soak the tamarind in 1 cup water for 20 minutes. Squeeze it out, adding water little by little to prepare 1 cup of juice.

Choose a heavy cooking pot. Wash and clean the dal. Boil 2 cups of water and add the dal, turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon of oil. As the dal boils, skim off the foam and discard. Boil until the dal is soft and then mash it coarsely. If needed, add more water as it is boiling but do not let it get too watery. If you use a pressure cooker it will take about 5 minutes.

Onion Red chilli Chutney

Onion Chutney | Ullipaya Karam Recipe:

Serves 2-3

Total Prep time:10 mins | Cooking time: NIL

Cuisine: South Indian | Category: Chutney for Idli/Dosa - Accompaniments

Ingredients:

20-25 small Shallots or 2 Onions

4-5 Red/Green Chillies

Salt to taste

1-2 tbsp Sesame Oil/ melted Ghee

Method:

• Cut the ends of shallots and soak them in a bowl of water for 10 mins. This will make the process of peeling the skin of onions easier. Peel the skins and keep them ready, if the shallots are big cut them into 2-3 pieces. If you are using large onions peel and cut them into chunks roughly.
• Wash and remove the hard stems of coriander and roughly chop the coriander and green chillies.
• In a blender add shallots, chopped Red/Green chillies salt and pulse it in whipper mode to get a coarse chutney. Do not grind it longer, just pulse it until you get chunky chutney as shown. You do not require any water, if required add a tbsp of water while grinding.
• Take a pan and heat it over low flame, put some oil/ melted Ghee in pan. Now put the paste in it and lightly roast the chutney/paste for 1 minute (This will reduce the smell of raw onions) now chutney/ paste as it is called in India as Ulli Karam ready to serve.