Sambar with Roasted Idli

Ingredients required

• 150g (~1 cup) toor daal / split pigeon peas
• 2 medium sliced onions
• 1 medium chopped tomato
• Chopped vegetables of your choice (potato, french beans, carrot etc)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder, 2 tbsp sambar masala powder
• Curry leaves
• 2 tbsp tamarind juice
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds / mohri
• Asafoetida / hing
• 2 dried red chillies
• Idli batter
• Cooking oil
• Salt to taste

Recipe

1. Wash toor dal & soak for 15 mins.
2. In a cooker — add 2 cups water, toor dal, pinch of salt & turmeric. Cook for 5–6 whistles on medium-high flame. Keep this aside & let it cool.
3. Heat around 2 tbsp oil in a large pan / kadhai.
4. Add mustard seeds, dried red chillies, pinch of hing & let it roast.
5. Add 4–5 curry leaves followed by sliced onions & fry for 2–3 mins. Then, add all vegetables & fry for 3–4 mins on medium flame.
6. Add tomatoes & cook till it becomes soft for 3–4 mins.
7. Add tamarind juice, 1/2 cup water, mix well & cook for 5 mins on low flame.
8. Add all spices — turmeric, kashmiri red chilli, red chilli powder & cook for 1 min on low flame. Then, add sambar masala powder & mix well.
9. Add dal, 3 cups of water & salt.
10. Add coriander leaves, mix well. Let this boil/cook for around 10–12 mins on low flame. Your Sambar is ready!
11. For the idlis, prep idli using batter. Then, chop idli into pieces and fry them for few mins over low-med flame in a pan till roasted as desired.

Enjoy the fried idlis dipped in sambar!

Tips

You can use vegetables of your choice in sambar as you like.

Ensure to mash the dal before adding to sambar mixture to make it uniform.

You can adjust the water accordingly when sambar is kept to boil at last as per consistency desired.