Sambar is a gravy dish made in southern parts of India .It has so many different variations and is an important item in sadhya.This recipe here is from my ancestral home in Palakkad .I love calling it authentic... if u don't mind .Sambar is made very often for lunch so by mid morning the distinct aroma of the roasting spices starts to kick in ,which is hard for one to ignore. With a large backyard and farms, you guessed it right many of the vegs came from a small kitchen garden.
Did I tell you even tamarind is picked from the yard no..no... it is not used directly it goes through a long process of peeling ,deseeding ,sun drying and preserving with salt .As a kid our summer afternoons were spent in the yard raking leaves looking for fallen tamarind pods ,I would be so excited every time I got one , I used to eat tamarind till my mouth became sore.Thinking of tamarind,mmmm ...how it tastes and the sweet sour smell of it .... oh my god ! can u resist drooling ...
Every pod had 5 or 6 seeds .Do u think we kids threw that off commoonn ..that was a treasure I collected for game we played .Not that we did not have other toys to play with but this is a group game.The game had rules and who got the most number was the winner .It is so interesting that sometimes the adults too joined in.
Times have changed .You and I have grown up but memories of childhood are sometimes alike and it becomes even more precious with passing years.
Coming back to the recipe,
Ingredients
Tamarind - a small lemon size(dissolved in half glass water)
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
salt to taste
Vegetables used:
Tomato-1
Ashgourd(Kumbalanga)- a small piece
Brinjal-2 (small)
Raw rice-1/4 tsp (Pachari)
Fenugreek seeds- 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves-very few
whole red chili-2
curry leaves- few
Coriander leaves -few
Method:
DO not make the curry too watery , mix well before serving and keep it closed once cool so the aromas do not escape.
Will be posting more sambar recipes, do check out when you get a chance.
Meena
Nilu A
Lip-smacking, flavorful and delicious sambar Meena π
Meena Kumar
Thank you so much Nilu.
Jai
My Mom used to make Palakadan Sambar this way! She is no more in this world, sigh! I for one could never tolerate the South Kerala, Tamil or Kannada versions of Sambar.
Meena Kumar
Jai,so sorry to hear about your mom.
I exactly know what u are saying sambar with coconut makes a lot of difference right!I don't know if the pic is doing any justice but it is neither watery not too thick.It took me while to adjust with Southern side sambar.I have enough comedy events to write as a full post on " why is the sambar like this!":)))
Thank you so much for stopping by Jai.I can already feel a connection:)
Jai
It was her 4th death anniversary on Sep 6th, 2013. Anyway, life moves on... More strength to you and your recipes! Cheers
Meena Kumar
Wish parents live forever.True life moves on without them too.
Thank you Jai .
Anonymous
Hi! I just came back to tell you that this sambar was rocking! I made it today! I'm a newbie in the kitchen and I ran out of store bought sambar powder. I browsed the web and came to your sambar recipe - tried it out and actually roasted the coconut till it got brown (still getting the hang of things in the kitchen hehe) and the sambar was a deep brown colour! Before my husband could ask, why is the sambar this colour, I quickly informed him that this is varutharacha sambar! π He didn't suspect a thing and relished the meal. Thanks Meena! So...have you posted the varuntharacha sambar recipe yet? Is it the same as this, but with more roasting of the coconut?
Meena Kumar
I am so glad to hear that u tried this recipe and liked it.
There are some more ingredients in the varutharacha sambar I will post the recipe soon.Your method of roasting coconut to brown also works fine.
Thank you so much for stopping by and writing back to me.