There is no home in South India ,without

sambhar for breakfast with iddli,dosai,vada

and rice too.

Some sambhar is made with a mixture of

vegetables.

Some occasional sambhar are made with the

traditional 7-9 vegetables.

Some are made with only sambhar

onions (small red onions),or any single

vegetables like only drumstick,only ladies

finger and even greens,capsicum,and you  go

on  with your choice of vegetable.

So here i’m going to give you 4 recipes for quick

and different  types of sambhar.

The first one doesn’t require any sambhar

podi,simple and very tasty.

I’m giving the recipe for sambhar with tuvar

dal.

Those who love other lentils could use instead

of tuvar dal.

Normally split green gram,tuvar dal,masoor dal

is used .I love to use tuvar or green gram for

sambhar.

1.Tuvar dal sambhar without sambhar podi.

Ingredients

10-15 small onions

any vegetable you like (drumstick/ladies finger/or a handful of greens)

2-3 green chillies

2 tomatoes chopped

4-5 garlic cloves

few curry leaves

1/2 tsp.mustard seeds

1 tsp.fenugreek seeds

2 dry chillies

1/4 tsp.asafoetida powder

1 tsp.turmeric powder

1 tsp.chilli powder

1.5 tsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp.pepper powder

1/2 tsp.cummin seed powder

1 cup tuvar dal

2-3 tblsp.ghee/oil

lime sized tamarind soaked in water

salt to taste

a small piece of jaggery

METHOD

First cook the dal with a tsp of ghee ,mash it

well and set aside .

Heat ghee ,and first add curry leaves,

asafoetida,mustard,dry chillies ,fenugreek and

saute for a minute.

Next add the onions,garlic,green chillies

turmeric and salt,the vegetable,and tomatoes.

Saute for 5 minutes.Next add the chilli powder,

coriander powder,pepper powder,cummin

seed powder and cook for another two

minutes.

Add half cup of water,cover and cook till

vegetables are fully cooked.Next add the

tamarind water,and cook for a further 5

minutes.Add the mashed dal to the mixture.

Pour water for the required amount(some like

it thick,some like it thin).of sambhar.

Add jaggery.Bring to a boil,and garnish with

coriander leaves.Remove from fire.

(Do not allow to boil for a log time after you add the dal.One boil is best.)

2. Capsicum Quick Sambhar.(One Pot Sambhar)

Ingredients( same as no 1.)

Method:

This has to be cooked in a pressure cooker.

Capsicum tastes excellent in these type of quick

sambhar.Here the dal is not pre-cooked.

Soak dal for minimum 10 minutes.Heat the oil

in the pressure cooker,and add the

ingredients in the same order as the above

one.After adding the tomatoes and the

capsicum,add the soaked and washed dal,and

saute for 5 minutes.Next add 2 cups of

water.

Close the lid and cook for 3 -4 whistles.Allow

the steam to release on its own.Open

the lid mash the dal,(don’t mind even if the

vegetables get slightly mashed .It will surely

add to  the taste.Garnish with coriander leaves.

3.SAMBHAR WITH SAMBHAR PODI

First i will get into the sambhar podi recipe

Ingredients

7-10 dry red chillies

1 tblsp  whole coriander

1/2 tsp.fenugreek  seeds

1/2 tsp.peppercorns

1 tsp.cummin seeds

3-4 tblsp dessicated coconut/dry copra/fresh coconut

1.5 tblsp.ulundu/tuvar dal

few curry leaves

a tsp of tamarind.

2 tsp ghee

Method

Fry all these ingredients till you see the urad

dal (ulundu) turning brown.Grind to a fine

powder and use(This measurement is for one

serving.)

You could use the same powder for bise bele bhath or sambhar sadam SAMBHAR

RICE(sambhar sadham)

Now for the sambhar recipe using this powder.For this sambhar i think a mix of many

vegetables including brinjal,drumstick,raw

plantain,raw mango will be very fine.

INGREDIENTS

2 tblsp.sambhar podi

few small onions

mix of vegetables you like

2 tomatoes chopped

4-5 cloves chopped garlic

1 cup cooked dal

For tempering

curry leaves

1/2 tsp.mustard

1/2 tsp.fenugreek seeds

2 dry chillies

1/4 tsp.asafoetida powder

oil/ghee

METHOD

Add 2 tblsp.oil,next add the asafoetida curry

leaves,mustard,fenugreek,dry chillies,garlic

,and onions and saute for 5 minutes.Add

turmeric and the vegetables and cook covered

for 10 minutes.Next add 1/2 cp of water and

cook till the vegetables are done.Add the

powdered ingredients and dal and cook for

further 5-10 minutes on a medium flame.Add

a tblsp.of jaggery,and remove from fire.

4. QUICK SAMBHAR 

This is also a very quick and tasty sambhar.My

suggestions for this sambhar will be

radish,only small onions,or any type of

greens(just a handful).

Cook the dal with 2 tomatoes ,turmeric

powder,salt in a pressure cooker and set aside.

Grind 1/4 cup coconut,small piece of

tamarind,1/4 tsp.fenugreek,15 dry

chillies,1/2 tsp pepper,and 1 tsp cummin

seeds to a coarse powder.Add to the dal,and

temper with the ingredients listed for

tempering above (3 type sambar).Cook for 5-10

on a low flame.

If you are able to get vadagam you could use that instead of using the ingredients for tempering.Vadagam is a dry mixture of onions and all the ingredients used for tempering.

Try each sambhar and do let me know your comments.