Onion-Sambar

Since I finished making my apron, I felt that it was appropriate to kick it off by making something. I decided to make onion sambar, a lentil stew that comes from the depths of southern India.

I felt that this was quite appropriate since I am both Indian and South Indian. My father snapped a photo of me working...


If you have ever been to an Indian restaurant you may know about Dosa and or Idly. Often times both these items come with this liquidy stew/soup. I personally think it is quite watered down. So if you are looking for that kind of sambar, this is not it! This is a thick sambar, that we generally serve with rice or idly. As for the ingredients, I believe you can get them all at an local Indian grocery store.

The lentils make it thick, the tamarind makes it tangy and the brown sugar gives a sweet after taste. YUM.

I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, so I had to take a picture AFTER we ate it. =(
You can tell I made a ton.


Name: Onion Sambar
Origin: South Indian
Source: Family Recipe - my mother / grandmother

Ingredients:
Toor dal (Khandi Papu)
tamarind (chintapandu)
onions
oil
mustard seeds (avalu)
fenu greek (methi - menthulu)
cumin seeds - jeera (jelakara)
hing (ingua)
green chilli (pachi marapakayi)
curry leaves (karepaku)
turmeric (pasupu)
sambar powder
brown sugar (belam)

Procedure:
1. take 1.5 cup toor dal and add twice the water and cook till a liquidy pasty consistency
2. take a hand full of tamarind and soak in water, microwave for 1 min
3. cut up 2 onions
4. in 2 table spoons of oil add avalu, menthulu, jeera and ingua
5. saute onion (add 3 green chilli, karepaku)
6. add water to level of onions
7. add a spoon of salt (to taste)
8. add a pinch of turmeric
9. once the onions have cooked, squeeze tamrind into water (3 times and pour water into mixture)
10. take two ladles of sambar powder and add water (add mixture to sambar)
11. add paprika power (1/3 spoon)
11. add 3 spoon fulls of belam (brown sugar)
12. get cooked toor dal into a watery consistency (add to sambar)
13. add water as needed and stir

Enjoy!! (with rice of course)