Hotel Sambhar

Description

We all get excited, when we see king-sized paper roast dosas served with  piping hot hotel
sambhar and coconut chutney at restaurants. Here is the recipe for that scrumptious restaurant
style sambhar.

Ingredients
1 cup Red gram (soak for atleast 1 hour)
10 nos Sambhar onions/shallots (soak in warm water to peel off the skin)
15 nos White pumpkin (1/4 of a whole pumpkin approx)
1 no Onion (finely chopped)
5 nos Ripe tomatoes (crushed or pureed)
1 no Green chilli
3 clove Garlic
3 tsp Tamrind juice (or thick store bought pulp 1/4 tsp)
1 tsp Jaggery (powdered)
2 tsp Dry coconut flakes/ desicated / coparai thengai
3 tsp Red chilli powder
2 tsp Corrainder/dhania powder
¼ tsp Turmeric powder
2 tsp Sambhar powder (store bought gives good color)
2 tsp Salt (or to taste)
1 tsp Ghee
2 tbsp Oil
½ tsp Mustard
½ tsp Cumin seeds
¼ tsp Fenugreek seeds
2 nos Dry red chilli
½ tsp Asafoetida powder
7 nos Curry leaves
1 stks Corrainder leaves

Instructions
Wash and soak Toor/Red gram dhal (Thuvaram paruppu ) in water for atleast 1 hour.   Then
pressure cook it with little salt until you get 3 to 4 whistles from your cooker.  Once done and
when the pressure releases, open and mash it immediately with a flat spatula or blend well and
keep aside. Pressure cook pumpkins seperately with a dash of turmeric powder , little salt and
water (Maximum 2 whistles) and set aside.
Now take a regular deep sauce pan , heat the oil and add mustard, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds,
dry red chillies, curry leaves and asafetida, let them splutter, then add the chopped onion,
sambhar onions, green chilli and garlic and saute them for a while.

When onions turn translucent add crushed tomatoes , tumeric powder, red chilli powder and
dhania powder. Saute everything till the tomatoes become tender and juicy.  Now add  2 cups
water, salt, tamrind pulp, cooked toor dhal or Thuvaram paruppu, cooked pumpkin pieces,
jaggery, dry coconut flakes and sambhar powder. Let this soupy gravy come to a boil, add ghee
at this stage, taste for salt and garnish with corriander leaves.