Podi or Powder Sambar

Sambar is a spicy and tangy lentil soup with veggies. It is very easy to make if you have the sambar powder ready. I make sambar powder at home but if and when I buy it is always Nirapara Sambar powder. I really like the flavour in that one. Nirapara has a is more iyer/ tamil sambar flavour. But you can pick and choose after trying a few different ones. I landed on this one after my fair share of trials.

INGREDIENTS

• Toor Dal – 1 cup – cooked (pressure cook or cook in pan with 2 cups of water & turmeric) 
• Veggies – pumpkin/ drumstick/ okra/ hongkong melon/ capsicum/ red radish/ onion/ eshallots – you can use only one of these or a combination of these – about 3 cups of cubes veggies (you can add more veggies if you want)
• Turmeric – ¼ tsp
• Salt to taste
• Sambar Powder – 2 to 3 tbsp (increase or decrease as per taste)
• Tamarind – lime sized ball – soaked in hot water
• Coriander leaves – chopped – for garnish

TEMPERING

• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
• Methi / Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp
• Hing / asafoetida – generous pinch
• Curry leaves – few

METHOD

• Cook the toor dal and set aside. Do not add salt while cooking the dal it doesn’t cook fast.
• In a pot add the veggies, salt and turmeric powder and cook till the veggies are almost cooked.
• Squeeze out the tamarind pulp and set aside
• After the vegetables are almost cooked then add the tamarind pulp and let it cook a little so the raw smell disappears.
• Now add the sambar powder and cook a few mins
• Now add the dal and mix well.
• You will have to adjust your flavours and consistency at this point. Add more water if it is too thick, adjust the other flavours like salt, sourness and sambar powder.
• Let it come to boil.
• Now in a small pan heat the oil add the mustard seeds. Once that sputters add the methi and hing. Then tear the curry leaves and put that in.
• Put the tempering on top of the sambar and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
• Serve with Idli, dosa, medu wada or rice. 
• A drop of ghee in your sambar enhances the flavour especially with rice and idlis.

NOTES

• If you are using pumpkin or melon in your sambar then add the tamarind only after it is cooked. Adding sourness when cooking will increase the cooking time.
• If you cannot have tamarind you can substitute that with amchoor powder or tomato paste/ puree.
• Pumpkin & okra will dissolve in the sambar if you over cook it. It tastes nice but if you like to see the vegetable pieces in your sambar then be mindful of the cooking time. I generally add my okra with the tamarind pulp especially when I am using it with other veggies.
• If you are using ulli vengayam / small onion/ eshallots then you need to saute it before cooking it. Initial caramelizing adds to the flavour.
•  I know many people add cauliflower, potato, tomato, etc to the sambar but in my family that is not really preferred.