Hotel Sambar-Restaurant Style Tiffin Sambar
Prep Time : 10 mins
Serves: 4
Recipe Category: Side Dish for Idli-Dosa-Pongal
Recipe Cuisine: South Indian
Author:Padhu Sankar
Ingredients needed
Tur dal/thuvaram paruppu – 1/4 cup
Moong dal/pasi paruppu – 1/4 cup
Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp
Tamarind – small piece/small gooseberry sized ball
Onion – 1
Tomato – 1
Salt needed
For the Masala Paste
Oil – 1 1/2 tsp
Coriander seeds/malli – 1 1/2 tsp
Bengal gram/chana dal/kadalai paruppu – 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds/vendhyam – 1/8 tsp
Whole black peppercorns/milagu – 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds/jeeragam – 1/2 tsp
Red Chillies – 3
Coconut – 2 tbsp
Onion – 1
Tomato – 1
For the Seasoning
Oil – 2 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Hing/asafoetida – a pinch
Curry leaves – a sprig
For Garnishing
Coriander Leaves – 2 tbsp finely chopped
Preparation
Pressure cook dal with 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder for 3 whistles or until soft. Mash it well and keep it aside. Dal* – You can use 1/2 cup tur dal or 1/2 cup moong dal or a mix of both dals (1/4 cup tur dal + 1/4 cup moong dal) as I have done.
Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup of hot water for 15-20 minutes. Extract its juice and keep it aside.
Finely chop 1 onion and 1 tomato finely and keep it aside.
Heat 1/2 tsp of oil and saute coriander seeds, bengal gram, pepper, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and red chillies.
When dal turns golden brown, add the grated coconut and switch off the heat. Saute the coconut in the heat of the pan. Leave it to cool.
Heat another tsp of oil and saute 1 onion (chopped) until transparent. Then add 1 chopped tomato and saute until tomatoes turn mushy. Leave it to cool.
Now grind the coconut mixture and the onion tomato mixture together to a fine paste. This is the masala paste for this hotel sambar.
Method
Chopped onion and tomatoes, cooked dal, masala paste, tamarind extract are all kept ready below. Now we will proceed to make the hotel style sambar.
Heat 2 tsp of oil, add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add hing and curry leaves. Add onions and saute until it turns transparent.
Add the masala paste, 2-3 tbsp of water and saute until it thickens and oil separates.
Then add tamarind extract, salt needed and cook until the raw flavor of the tamarind goes.
Then add the cooked dal, needed water, mix well and boil it. The consistency of the sambar should be a little watery, so add water accordingly.
When it starts to boil, simmer and cook for a few minutes, stirring in between.
Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with idli, dosa or ven pongal.
Check out more Sambar Recipes and more side dishes for idli and dosa.
View Comments (28)
Nice Recipe. Thanks a lot.
Tried and yummy taste! Thanks for the Recipe!
Thanks for the recipe.
Sambar looks yummy with idli. Small request - it's not a good idea to use a metal spatula on a non stick utensils.
Thank you padhu...for the delicious Sambhar
thks for the receipe. Itsvery useful
I tried your hotel sambar recipe and it tasted so yummi with idli. Thanks for the recipe.
Tried it and result was amazing . Thank u for sharing the recipe
Thank u so much.. tried it and it came out very well..
Thanks for sharing this recipe. It came out really tasty.