South Indian meals is incomplete without sambar. It can be made for breakfast, lunch and also for dinner. It  is an essential accompaniment to rice, idli, vada, doasai, upma. Sambar can be made with variety of vegetables or even a simple one with onions. Here i post the simple onion sambar.

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup toor dhal

1 tablespoons moong dhal (optional)

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds

¼ teaspoon asafoetida (hing)

20 pearl onion

5 to 6 garlic cloves

1 tomato chopped

4 green chilies

1 teaspoon red chilly powder

1 teaspoon sambar

Extract from a gooseberry sized tamarind

To temper:

¼ teaspoon mustard seeds

2 dry red chilly

¼ teaspoon cumin seeds

A pinch of hing

1 sprig of curry leaves

INSTRUCTIONS:

Wash toor dhal well and drain the water. Add turmeric powder, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and hing.

Add 2 cups of water to this and pressure cook it for 3 whistles. Switch off the flame and and allow it to cool down.

After the pressure has released, open the lid and transfer the contents to an earthen pot (but you can continue on the same cooker).

Now keep this pan on stove in medium flame and add 1½

cups water. Once it begins to boil, add onion, garlic, green chilly, tomato and salt.

When the onions are almost half done, add sambar powder and red chilly powder.

Allow it to boil well and add tamarind extract now. Reduce the flame to low and simmer the sambar for 5 min or until the raw smell of tamarind goes off. Switch off the flame.

In another small pan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing, red chilly and curry leaves. Add this tempering to sambar.

Delicious pearl onion sambar is ready to be served.

 

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.