Mami's yummy sambhar

My J Mami is an artist, an avid crafter and a wonderful cook. Needless to say, she is my favourite. I always looked forward to our trips to Nagpur during the summer vacation. She would teach us something new everyday!! All summer long, she would make the yummiest dishes for us, always with so much love and affection. 

For the last few weeks, she is going through a difficult time in life, battling longterm illness. Today, I made one of her best recipes, Sambhar, thinking of all the times she made dozens of dosas and idly with a smile, as we devoured it all.  Get well soon, Mami! 


Here it goes -

Serves-4-6

Dry daal for the sambhar powder

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes.

Ingredients

Toor daal -1/2 cup + 1 tsp

Chana daal - 1 tsp 

Urad daal - 1 tsp 

Mung daal- 1 tsp 

Methi/ Fenugreek seeds - 8-10 seeds

Rice - 8-10 seeds

Tomato - 1 medium, finely chopped

Onion -1/2 medium, finely chopped

Coriander leaves - a handful, finely chopped

Curry leaves - 8-10 leaves

Ginger - 1 inch, finely chopped

Green chillies - 2-3, finely chopped.

Sambhar powder

Salt

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Oil -1 tsp

Hing/ asafoetida - 1 pinch

Turmeric - 1tsp

Tamarind- 2-4 small segments (or more, depending on sourness)

Drum sticks - 1, cut into smaller 2" segments (optional)

Carrots, eggplants - cubed (optional)

Water

Method

• Cook 1/2 cup toor daal with water in a sauce pan/ pressure cooker, till soft.
• Sambhar Powder: Roast the dry daals, methi seeds and rice in a small skillet, till the lentils turn golden brown and aromatic. Let it cool. Grind in mixer-grinder/ coffee grinder into a fine powder.



Saute onions, sambhar powder, tomato paste

• In a mixer-grinder, add chopped tomato, coriander leaves, curry patta, ginger and chilli, and grind together - into paste.
• In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tsp oil. add mustard seeds, hing and chopped onion - till golden brown. 
• Add 1/2 of the sambhar powder (about 2 tsp). Add tomato - dhania paste. Saute. 

Simmering sambhar

• Add cooked toor daal. Add salt, haldi and tamirind (2-4 segments). add water as needed (3-4 cups). Add drumsticks/ veggies if desired. Continue to cook till veggies are cooked or desired consistency is reached, about 10-15 mins.

• Serve hot, with coconut chutney and Idly/ Dosa etc.

Mami's yummy sambhar

Bon Apetit!
Hetal from Houston

Palak Idlis

Spinach is one of my favourite leafy vegetable- nutritious and versatile. There are a gazillion recipes in various Indian cuisines. Here's my take on idlis with spinach.

 Ingredients

• 11/2 cup rice flour
• 2 tbsp Urad daal
• 2 tbsp Chana daal
• 2 tbsp Mung daal
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup frozen Palak /spinach (thawed). You can also use fresh spinach. Blanch it in hot water for five minutes and squeeze the excess water.
• 1 green chilli (optional)
• a pinch salt(optional)
• 1 tsp Eno/ fruit salt

Special equipment

Idli mould (available in any Indian grocery store)

Pressure cooker/ steamer.


Method

Rice-daal soaked in yogurt

• Grind the urad, chana and mung daal in a grinder into fine powder. I find a coffee grinder works best, but a regular grinder should also work. 
• Mix the ground daal into rice flour in a medium sized bowl, and soak it in yogurt. The consistency would be very dense. Add a little water if you feel the batter is still not moist. Let it soak for 4-5 hours.

Palak paste

• Grind the palak /spinach and green chilli with a pinch of salt to a smooth paste.

• Add palak paste to the Idli batter and mix gently.  

Rice-Daal batter and palak paste - before mixing

• Fill pressure cooker/ steamer with 1-2 inch water, and set on medium high heat.
• Add Eno into the batter, and mix gently. Tiny bubbles should form in the batter.

• Grease idli mould and pour 3/4th in each cavity of the mould.

Palak Idli batter in the idli mould

• Place the mould carefully in the steamer and cover. If using pressure cooker, do not use the whistle/ pressure. Steam for 10-12 minutes.
• Palak Idli is ready. Serve with coconut chutney. It is great as an appetizer or even a nice healthy lunch.

Bon Apetit!

Hetal from Houston

Palak Idlis