Mixed vegetables sambhar

It was curry week day #3 at My Dhaba today and we prepared this delicious mixed vegetables sambhar today. We had begun the journey through Indian curries the day before yesterday and hope you would agree with us that no list of curries would be complete without sambhar as a curry in it. So here is My Dhaba's special mixed vegetables sambhar made just for you during this curry week.

Mixed vegetables sambhar recipe

Ingredients:
Tuwar dal – 1 cup
Vegetables – 3 cups, peeled and cut lengthwise (atleast 2 kinds of vegetables, preferred combinations – french beans and brinjals, drumsticks and knol-knol, ladies finger and radish, or a mixture of any of these); vegetables used in this sambhar – drumsticks, brinjal, ladiesfinger, and carrot.
Salt – 1-1/2 teaspoons
Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
Black pepper powder – ½ teaspoon
Cummin seeds powder – ½ teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds powder – ½ teaspoon
Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon
Asafoetida = ¼ teaspoon
Onions – 2, medium size, finely chopped
Garlic – 3 beads, finely sliced
Tomato – 1, small, finely chopped
Tamarind extract – 2 tablespoons
Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
Oil – 1+1 teaspoons
Ghee – 1 teaspoon

Method: Boil 6 cupfuls of water in a flat-bottomed vessel; put the dal, turmeric powder, and 1 teaspoon of oil into it. Cover the vessel with a lid and cook over moderate heat till the dal turns soft. You may also pressure-cook it by boiling the cooker to full pressure and then subsimmer it for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, pour the top thin water into another vessel and mash the residual thick dal to a creamy smooth consistency with a dal churner or you may mash it in a blender. Pour back the dal water into the mashed dal. Add all the vegetables, salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder, black pepper powder, cummin seeds powder, fenugreek powder, turmeric powder, asafoetida, onions, and garlic. Adjust the water by adding a little more water if needed. Cook the vegetables covered with a lid over moderate heat till the vegetables are tender. Once the vegetables are tender, add the tamarind extract and cook for 5 minutes. Now add the tomatoes and let the sauce simmer over moderate heat till the raw smell of the tamarind disappears and the sauce reaches the desired thickness. Remove from heat and keep aside. Heat a frying pan and pour in the remaining oil and ghee into it. When very hot, add the mustard seeds to splutter and the curry leaves. Pour a big spoonful of sauce over the fried curry leaves and return it again to the sauce immediately. Stir thoroughly once and cover with a lid. Serve this nutritious sambhar on plain boiled rice, idlis, or dosais, etc. Enjoy!

Indian curries discussed so far...
Day #1 - Moluvu kolumbu aka black pepper sauce.
Day #2 - Ennai kathrikaa kaara kuzhambu aka Brinjal oil sauce.
Day #3 - Mixed vegetables sambhar.

Read more details about My Dhaba's curry week here. We look forward to your participation. Cheers!

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: My Dhaba's curry week: Mixed vegetables sambhar