Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Chinna Vengaya Araichu Vitta Sambar

What do I say about this, guess Araichu Vitta sambar is more famous with the KIs ;)... Try this and you will never look at Sambar the same way ... heehee...



Ingredients

15 pearl onions (shallots)
1/2 cup toor dal
Tamarind (size of a golf ball)
1tsp of Sambar powder
1tsp of mustard seeds
1tsp fenugreek seeds (methi / vendayam)
salt to taste
2 tsp of oil
3 cups of water

For the paste
1/2 cup grated coconut
5 dry red chilles
1tsp of corriander seeds
1tsp of channa dal
curry leaves


Method

Pressure cook the toor dal in a cup of water. Soak the tamarind in half a cup of hot water for 10 minutes. Strain the tamarind puree and keep it aside. In a pan heat 1tsp of oil and fry red chillies, corriander seeds, channa dal, curry leaves and the coconut and fry until the coconut turns light golden brown. Be careful not to burn the coconut. Cool this and grind it into a smooth paste. Mix this paste with the cooked toor dal.

In the same pan, add a little oil and saute the shallots for 2 - 3 minutes. Add the tamarind puree, sambar powder, salt and 1/2 cup of water. Mix this together cook well for 10 - 15 minutes. The raw smell of tamarind should go away. The mixture should have now reduced to atleast 1/3. Now add the cooked toor dal and the ground masala mix to this. Add another cup of water and mix everything together and bring it to a boil. Taste this, you can add a lil salt if needed (This will cook for another 10 - 15 minutes).

Season the sambar with a little mustard & fenugreek seeds. You can also add dry red chillies, incase you want it to be more spicy. Garnish with corriander and curry leaves. Serve hot with steamed rice...

Yummy Araichu vitta chinna vengaya sambar ready !!!!

Tricks: Amma's little trick, she adds just one shallot with the grinding mixture, this adds a great aroma and taste to the sambar.

You can use any of these vegetables - drumsticks, raddish, pumpkin,bitter gourd, egg plant, potato etc...

As soon as you add the dal and masala, check for taste add a little salt or tamarind paste (do not add the tamarind puree at this point) if needed. If it is less spicy, you can season it with dry red chillies when you season it finally.


3 comments:

  1. Wow sangee, u know, I've noticed we cook most things pretty much the same way, except maybe i bump up the spice. I also do a mix of sambar podi and ground spices in araichu vitta sambar :D

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  2. rumsie... how can it be different... The Thanjavur factor comes into play ... hahahaha... thanks to my mom n your mom ...
    Hope to bring out my kerala side thats hidden as well... But I have cut down on coconuts these days :)

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  3. hehehe adu seri, neeyum half T ;) My mum in law makes it without podi at all! I dont have a kerala side until now, adellam blog panindirken. My mom and cousin also blog with us, so orey mixed recipes thaan :) I don't use coconut everyday like muminlaw does... but appo appo when flavour requires (as in most palakkad dishes) you can't avoid it!

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