Sambar Masala

This particular masala is used for making the authentic sambar. Credit for this one goes to my mother. I remember as a youngster how this would be made in a huge vessel and served with steaming hot super soft idlis, a blob of white butter fresh, home made, inviting us all to jump into the bowl!! The sambar and the idlis would disappear in no time, relished by all. And as i always say, gone is my mother and the taste is gone with her. I do try my best at making it but it's not the same. Sharing with you all my recipe.

First you need to pressure cook 1 cup of pigeon pea lentil with your choice of vegetables and a pinch of asafoetida, a pinch of turmeric powder, a few curry leaves. This makes the base curry aromatic.

Ingredients
1 big onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
fresh coriander for garnishing

Ingredients to be ground to a paste

Roasted in very little oil
1/2 tspn of split black gram lentil, bengal gram lentil
1/2 a tspn of cumin and coriander seed
5 black pepper corns
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 inch of ginger
2 cloves
1 small ball of tamarind
4 dry red chillies
1/4 tspn of fenugreek seeds
1 marathi moggu
1/4 cup of freshly scraped coconut

Method

in a deep bottomed vessel take oil, temper with mustard seeds, turmeric powder and asafoetida, add the chopped onion saute till golden brown, add the ground paste and the tomato, salt to taste, cook for a while till the tomato becomes mushy, add the cooked lentil, adjust the consistency to you taste, give it a boil and serve with freshly chopped coriander as a garnish.