Serve Piping Hot Sambar With Kerala Style Dosa

Instead of your regular chutney, serve piping hot sambar with your dosa for a complete Kerala breakfast.

Sambar

Ingredients

Mixed Vegetables cut into medium sized pieces – 3-4 cups (1 potato,1 carrot, 2 drumsticks, 1/2 plantain, 1 tomato , 5 beans and a few pieces of brinjal used in this recipe)
Sambar Parippu / Tuvara Parippu (Sambar/Toor Dal) – 1/2 cup
Sliced Onion – 1 medium
Green chillies slit – 2
Garlic Cloves – 4 or 5
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Tamarind – gooseberry sized ball
Chopped coriander leaves – 2 tsp
Red Chilly powder – 1 tsp
Coriander Powder – 2 tsp
Sambar Powder – 3 tsp (a mixture of Red chilly powder, Coriander Powder, Cumin powder, Turmeric powder, Fenugreek powder)
Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Red Chillies – 3
Curry Leaves – A sprig
Shallots or Pearl Onions (diced) – 1/4 cup
Asafoetida (Kayam) – A pinch
Oil – 3 tbsp
Water – As needed
Salt – As needed

Method

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pressure cooker and saute the sliced onions, garlic and green chillies for 2 minutes.
Next add the diced vegetables and dal along with salt and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and cover the pan and pressure cook on medium flame up to 2 whistles. (For pressure cooking, add enough water so as to cover the vegetables)
Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup of warm water for sometime, squeeze and take the extract from it. Keep aside.
When the dal and vegetables are done, remove the lid of the pressure cooker and add in the tamarind juice. Stir and simmer on low flame for some more time and add more salt if needed.
Add chopped coriander leaves and and sprinkle asafoetida powder and simmer for 2 more minutes. Remove from flame and keep aside.
Heat oil in a wok and allow mustard seeds to splutter.
Add shallots, red chillies and curry leaves and fry for a minute.
Mix in the sambar powder, coriander powder and chilly powder and fry for 2 minutes on low flame.
Now pour the sambar to the wok and mix well for a few minutes. Remove from flame and keep aside.
Serve with Dosa