Recipe credit: Darshana Muzumdar
Ingredients for recipe 1 (Makes 1/2 cup sambhar powder)
- 8-10 dried medium red chillies (use Kashmiri chilies if you like mildly hot sambhar and Guntur chilies if you like it spicy hot) The Kashmiri chilies give the sambhar a bright red colour.
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 or 1 tsp fenugreek seeds (this adds fragrance to the masala)
- 1 tsp black pepper (use more if you like your food spicy hot)
- 1/2 tbsp urad dal (black gram dal)
- 1 tbsp chana dal (chick peas)
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida
- 1 handful of curry leaves
- 6-8 tbsp grated dried or fresh coconut (optional)
Method
- Trim the chilies and shake out as many seeds as possible. Toast these deseeded chilies in a small frying pan until they just begin to char. Set them aside on a plate to cool. The seeds are hot so do not remove them if you like your sambhar spicy hot.
- Next, toast the coriander seeds and black pepper on medium heat until aromatic. Note: These two ingredients give a sambhar the authentic flavour. Add the curry leaves and continue toasting until the leaves are crisp. Add all these three to the ingredients on the plate.
- Finally, toast the chana dal, urad dal and fenugreek seeds separately until golden and set these to cool aside as well. Note that urad dal roasts very quickly to take care not to allow it to burn.
- Dry roast the coconut to a light golden brown on low or medium heat if you are using it.
- Once all the ingredients are slightly cool, transfer everything to a spice grinder along with the asafoetida and grind into a fine powder. You can choose to roast the asafoetida before grinding it.
Transfer to an airtight jar and keep in the fridge once it is cool to use over a period of 4 to 6 months.
Ingredients for recipe 2 (Makes over 1 cup of masala powder)
Note: This recipe does not have black pepper corns in it so you will need to use it in the tempering of the sambhar.
- 20 dry hot red chilies
- 20 Kashmiri chilies
- 6 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 tbsp fenugreek seeds
- 4 tbsp chana dal
- 2 1/2 tbsp urad dal
- 2 tbsp rice optional (preferably red rice) used for thickening the sambhar
- 1 tsp whole hing (asafoetida)
- 3- 4 sprigs curry leaves
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
Method
- Wash the curry leaves and remove as much water as you can with a towel or napkin. Let them dry on a plate.
- Remove the stems of the red chilies. Do not remove the tops of the chilies completely so that the seeds remain inside and don’t burn. Roast them on medium heat till very crisp but not burned. Remove to cool in a plate.
- Roast the coriander seeds till crisp and fragrant. Add to the chilies in the plate.
- Roast the fenugreek seeds till reddish.
- Roast the washed and dried curry leaves till they are completely dry and crisp.
- Roast the chana dal, urad dal, red rice and hing separately.
- Turn off the heat and roast the turmeric powder taking care not to let it burn.
Cool and blend all ingredients. Store in an airtight jar and use within 3-4 months.
Note: If you do not use curry leaves in the masala, make sure you use more of them in the tempering of the sambhar.