Sambar And Idli
Grrrrrgh!
Course : Curry
From: HungryMonster.com
Serves: 1
 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup thur dal -- (papu) (heaped)
2 tablespoons coconut gratings
1 tablespoon Bengali gram dal
2 sprigs curry leaves
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 piece tamarind paste
2 teaspoons coriander seeds -- (heaped)
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 bunch coriander leaves
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon salt to taste
8 whole peppercorns
1 bunch vegetables -- (tomato, okra, raw banana, etc.)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 medium onion -- squash, potato,
1 piece asafetida
6 medium red chiles
 

Preparation:

Wash thur dal thoroughly. Boil 1 liter of water. Drop dal in boiling water. Cook until soft. Take a little oil in a frying pan on another flame. Roast mustard, coriander, fenugreek, cumin, pepper, turmeric, red chiles, asafetida, Bengali gram dal, coconut gratings and 1 sprig of curry leaves - all in the same sequence, until brown. Grind all the roasted ingredients with tamarind to a fairly smooth paste. To the cooked thur dal, add vegetable pieces and a few coriander leaves. Cook until tender. Then add salt along with ground masala (paste made above) and some water. Boil well. When done, remove from flame. Garnish with bits of coriander leaves. This is usually served with: Idlis 1 heaping cup black gram dal oil for greasing cups salt to taste 2 heaping cups raw rice or (1 heaping cup boiled rice and 1 heaping cup raw rice) Soak black gram dal and the two rices (mixed) separately in water for 3 hours. First, wash the soaked dhal and grind to a fine paste and keep aside. Then grind the soaked rice to a coarse paste. Mix both the pastes using hands, add salt and keep under cover overnight. Next day, beat the batter well. Grease idli cups (you can use egg poachers if you want) with oil, and fill them (about 3/4 full) with the idli batter and steam in an idli vessel (basically, a big steamer) for about 20 minutes. (note: if raw rice only is used, there is no need to grind it. Just wash it and crush it in a mortar and pestle and then mix it with the ground black gram paste) The same idli batter can be use to make Sannan. Pour the batter in the container of a pressure cooker (previously greased with oil) about 3/4 full and steam for 15-20 minutes as above. Take out and cut into pieces with a spatula. Notes: A few days ago, my mom gave me a book of south Indian vegetarian recipes. I never learned to cook from my mom, though that's going to change in the near future, but she thought this cookbook was a good way to start. It is published in India, and neither my mom or I have used any of these recipes, but it was recommended to her by her sister, so I assume that they're good. I thought I'd start with the basics. Recipes from Dakshin Bharat Dishes Cookbook by Jaya V. She