Onion Sambar

Onion Sambar is one of the favorites in our home. Ideal to be eated with rice, idlis and dosas it is hard to stop drinking the sambar literally. I had cut an onion a day before and preserved half of it. (And I used the remaining half to garnish Pav Bhaji). My Mom and Grandmom make the best arachivitta kuzhambu. I used their recipe to recreate the taste (close to it , but not quite there). The sambar masala is a blend of very simple spices that gives a fresh taste. Tonight we are going to have this tasty sambar with idlis.

Ingredients:

For the Sambar masala:

• Coriander seeds - 2 tbsp
• Chana Dal - 2 tsp
• Urad Dal - 2tsp
• Curry leaves -1 sprig (fresh or dry)
• Grated coconut - 1/4th cup (fresh /dessicated)
• Cumin seeds / Jeera - 1/4th tsp
• Black pepper - Few corns
• Dry red chillies - 3-4

For the Smbar:

• Red Onion - I medium sized - Cut lengthwise
• Cooked Toor dal - 1 cup
• Tamarind Pulp - 1 tbsp
• Salt - To taste
• Asafoetida - A pinch
• Water - As needed
• Curry leaves - For Garnishing/ tempering
• Cilantro - For Garnishing
• Ghee - 2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/4th tsp 

Method:

• Firstly, cook 1/2 cup of toor dal  in a pressure cooker until soft and mush and keep aside.

• In a pan, add all the dry spices like coriander, cumin seeds, chana dal, urad dal, black pepper, curry leaves, red chillies and grated coconut in a pan and dry roast them till a nice aroma comes from them.

• Remove from heat and allow it to cool down. Grind all the spices until it is all crushed. Keep the consistency somewhere between fine and medium coarse (not too fine or not too coarse).

• In another pan, add ghee, mustard seeds, dry red chillies and curry leaves. Let the mustard seeds pop up and then add the cut onions.

• Once the onions have softened and become translucent, add 1 tbsp of tamarind pulp.

• Add 2 cups of water, salt to taste and asafoetida and allow it to come to a boil.

• Once it starts boiling and starts frothing from the sides, add the ground sambar masala.

• Mix it in well and add another 1/2 cup of water and allow this mixture to boil for another 5-7 minutes.

• Then add the cooked toor dal and simmer for 5 minutes.

• Garnish with cilantro, curry leaves and add 2 tbsp of ghee over the sambar and serve it hot with rice, dosas or idlis.

• Enjoy the sambar and I am sure you will love this.

Notes:

• You can use any type of onion. Red onions taste the best. Even pearl onions taste very good in this recipe.
• I used dessicated coconut and dry cilantro as I ran out of fresh ones. Fresh is always the best.

Iru Puli Kuzhambu / Eruvilli Kuzhambu

A very new dish to me and I got introduced to it after I got married. It happens to be one of the favorite kuzhambu of my DH. This kuzhambu is a typical Tirunelveli dish. It is called "Iru Puli" since it has two tangy ingredients added into it. The term "Iru Puli" gradually evolved to be called eruvilli kuzhambu..One is the tamarind pulp and the other is the buttermilk. It serves as a great accompaniment to Idli, Dosa and can be best enjoyed with rice. There are different veggies that can be added to this. Some veggies commonly used are white pumpkin, okra, carrots, chayote, drumsticks or taro root.

Here is how you make it.

Ingredients:

For the Ground Paste:


Chana Dal - 1 tbsp
Fenugreek/ Methi Seeds - 1- 1 1/2 tsp
Red Chillies - 4-5
Curry leaves - A few
Grated fresh coconut - 1 cup
Butter milk - 1 cup

For the Sambar:

Tamarind Pulp - 1 tbsp
Asafoetida - A pinch
Veggies of your choice - 1 1/2 cups
Salt - To Taste

For Tempering:


Ghee / Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Chana Dal - 1/2 tsp
Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a Few (optional)
Cilantro - For Garnishing

Method:

• Cut the veggies of your choice into 1 inch sticks. I used carrots as we all love that in this kuzhambu.

• In a pan, dry roast the chana dal and the fenugreek seeds until a beautiful aroma comes out of it.

• Also dry roast the red chilies and the freshly grated coconut until golden brown. You can also dry roast the curry leaves.

• In a Mixie Jar add all the above ingredients and then add buttermilk and grind it to a slightly coarse paste.

• In another vessel, dissolve the tamarind pulp in 1 1/2 cups of water.

• Add the veggies and bring it to a boil until the raw smell of tamarind disappears and the veggies get tender.

• Add a pinch of asafoetida and add salt to taste.

• Once the water has come to a boil and the veggies have become tender, add the ground paste and simmer it for a while for about 5-7 minutes.

• Garnish it with generous amounts of cilantro.

• For the seasoning, add ghee / oil in a small pan. Add the mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal and jeera. Once the Mustard seeds start spluttering, and both the dals turn light brown, add them to the kuzhambu / sambar to temper it. You can add curry leaves and asafoetida too at this stage though it is optional.

• Iru puli kuzhambu / Eruvili kuzhambu is ready to be enjoyed hot with rice.

• Try out this unique kuzhambu and let me know what you guys think!!

Notes:

• You can use one kind of veggie or you can use different kinds of veggies at the same time.
• Feel free to be creative with the use of veggies.
• Use of curry leaves while grinding and for tempering it is optional. You can use it in both stages or use it in one or eliminate it completely.
• Be careful while adding salt. Since there is a lot of tanginess  from the tamarind and the buttermilk,you may want to reduce the amount of salt.
• You can use freshly grated coconut or frozen shredded coconut depending upon the availability.
• Make sure that the paste to be ground is neither too coarse nor too smooth.

Arachivitta Kuzhambu / Potato Sambar

Arachivitta Kuzhambu/Sambar is a hot favorite in my home. It is also prepared with many other vegetables and tastes the best with Idlis, Dosas and with plain White Rice. It involves grinding of a simple masala for the Sambar which gives the Sambar a fresh taste and a nice rich flavor.

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 2 Medium Sized

Tamarind paste - 1 Tsp

Toor Dal - 1/2 Cup

Turmeric powder - A Pinch

Asafoetida - A Pinch

Salt - To taste

For the Masala:

Cumin Seeds - 1/2 Tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 Tsp

Dry Red Chillies - 3-4

Urad Dal - 1 Tsp

Chana Dal - 1 Tsp

Coriander seeds - 1 1/2 Tbsp

Freshly Grated Coconut - 1 Cup

For the Seasoning:

Ghee/Clarified Butter - 1 Tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 Tsp

Curry Leaves - A Few

Cilantro - A Few to garnish

Method:

• Peel and cut the potatoes into bite sized pieces.

• In a pan add 1/2 cup of Toor Dal, a pinch of turmeric and a pinch of salt and add water .

• Add the cubed potatoes to the dal and pressure cook the dal for upto 3 whistles.

• In another pan, add a few drops of oil. Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, Urad Dal, Chana Dal, Dry Red Chillies and Coriander seeds.

• Dry roast this spice mixture until aroma from the spices start to get released.

• Now add freshly grated coconut to this spice mixture.

• Dry roast the coconut with the spice mixture for about 3-5 minutes until the coconut gets roasted.

• Grind the mixture into a paste by adding a little water. Let the paste be a little coarse.

• Take 1 tsp of tamarind paste and dissolve it in 1 cup of warm water.

• Take a pan and add tamarind water. Add asafoetida and salt to the tamarind water.Be careful with the salt as we have already added some salt while boiling the dal.

• Let the tamarind water come to a boil. Then add the ground paste to this water and mix it well.

• Allow this mixture to come to a boil. Then add the boiled Dal and potatoes to this and mix it well. Allow this Sambar to boil well for about 10 minutes.

For the seasoning:

• Take 1 tbsp of ghee and add 1 tsp of mustard seeds to it.Once the mustard seeds pop up add curry leaves. Mix the seasoning well and turn off from heat.

• Add this mixture to the Sambar.

• Garnish the Sambar with finely chopped cilantro.

• Serve hot with Idlis, Dosas or with White Rice.

Notes:

• You can also use vegetables like shallots, drumsticks, chayote, green beans or white pumpkin to prepare this dish.
• If you are using tamarind instead of tamarind paste, then you can take tamarind about the size of a lime.
• You can use Oil also to do the seasoning. Ghee gives it a much richer taste.
• Adding salt while boiling the dal is optional. You may choose to skip the addition as per your preference.