Monday, September 12, 2011

Hotel Sambar Recipe

Have you tried eating idli-sambar/dosa-sambar or vada-sambar in any of the fast food joints in Bangalore? If yes, you must have gone gaga over their sambar. The sambar provided would be more on the sweeter side & considerably thick. I have tried to recreate their sambar over years & now I can say, I make somewhat similar to what is served in the restaurants!

Here is my version:


Preparation Time: 20mins
Cooking time: 40mins (Including pressure cooking time)

Ingredients: (Yields around 2 litres of sambar).
Moong dal/Split & skinned green gram: 1/2 cup
Salt: According to taste
Turmeric: 1/4 tsp
Finely chopped potato: 1/2 cup
Finely chopped veggies: 1/2 cup (I normally add raddish, carrots, french beans & yam)
Finely chopped onion: 1/2 cup
Tamarind: 2 tsp, thick extract of the pulp.
Jaggery: 2 tbsp

For spice paste:
Gram dal/Channa dal: 2 tsp
Urad dal/Skinned black dal: 1 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Coriander seeds: 2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds: 1/4 tsp
Dry red chili: 8-10 nos ( non spicy ones like Kashmiri chilli)
Curry leaves: 10-12 nos
Oil: 1 tsp
Coconut: 1/2 cup, scraped
Asafoetida: a pinch

For tempering:
Oil: 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: 4- 6 nos
Tomato: 1 no, finely chopped


Method:
  • Wash the moong dal thoroughly. Add the finely chopped vegetables, potato & onion to the washed dal. 
  • Add water, turmeric & 1/2 tsp of salt to the vegetables. Pressure cook the dal & vegetable together for 2-3 whistles. Allow the cooker to cool.
  • Meantime, heat a pan. Add oil & roast all the ingredients mentioned for the spice paste (except coconut & asafoetida). No need to roast each ingredient separately. Add channa dal & urad dal first, roast it lightly. Follow it by cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, dry red chilli. Roast it till the dry red chilli become crisp.Finally throw in curry leaves & coriander seeds.  Toss for another minute. The kitchen will smell heavenly by now. Turn off the heat, add coconut & asafoetida to the roasted spices & mix well. Allow the spices to cool down.
  • Make a fine paste of the roasted spices by adding little water. 
  • Heat a broad vessel. Add oil to it. When oil is hot, throw in mustard & cumin seeds. When seeds turn brown, add curry leaves & finely chopped tomato. Saute the tomato until it is mushy & oil separates from it.
  • Add the cooked lentils & vegetables to it. Adjust the salt, add the tamarind extract, jaggery & the prepared spice paste. Allow it to boil for another 10-12 mins. 
  • Yummy hotel sambar is ready. Serve it with vada, idli, dosa or even plain rice!

Notes:
My sis's mom-in-law adds a tablespoon of roasted gram dal/roasted channa dal/hurigadale/kadala pappu while preparing the spice paste & adds only 1 or 2 tbsps of grated coconut. I have tried the sambar this way too! It taste's good.

17 comments:

  1. Love this flavourful and quite irresistible sambar,delicious..

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  2. Sambar looks extremely delicious and mouthwatering.

    Deepa
    Hamaree Rasoi

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  3. I am craving for some now! So delectable! My all time favorite,loved the clicks...

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  4. That's delicious sambar and lovely clicks Sush

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  5. ahaa..looks delicious! I have to try it out to see how it tastes :)

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  6. Wah...wah..That is one delicious sambhar!!!! And u use moong dal & tur?? Must give your recipe a try..Moong dal is much faster to cook & lighter on the tummy too that tur..
    Prathima Rao
    Prats Corner

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  7. wow dear, really really tempting sambar...i cann't take my eyes from the clicks,damn gud...

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  8. nicely presented.mouthwatering sambhar.even i am making sambhar now

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  9. This one is new for me,looks yum

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  10. Just now i finished preparing this dish it came out very well i cant wait my husband to come home so he can give me review too :) but i used toor dal instead of moong daal next time will try with moong dal thanku for the dish bye.

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  11. Love this sambar...looks delicious..chk my blog,I have tagged u in 7 links game..:)

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  12. tried this sambhar yesterday it came so good tastes just like typical hotel sambhar.
    Thank you mam :)

    ReplyDelete

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