Sambar

Kolkata is a wonderful place and that is where i tried to cook for the first time. One can taste the most wonderful sweets there, especially rasgullas. You can get the fresh, warm rasgullas there. There was a sweet shop called VIP Sweets in front of the building where we used to live in Kolkata. They used to serve rasgullas in clay pots. Not only rasgullas even tea or coffee is served in them. You see, thats a different experience for people from other parts of the country. I was fascinated.

I am very fortunate to have a great group of friends there. Except one girl, no one knows cooking. So, we are all the assistants to the head chef Subbu...:) Later on i tried to cook semya upma, rava upma etc...in the process of learning how to cook, i found my own recipe for sambar and it was my first super hit...:) Most of my Kolkata friends identifies me with sambar. Here is my recipe


INGREDIENTS

Toor dal 1 cup
Onion 1 (Chopped lengthwise)
Green Chillie 4 (Chopped lengthwise)
Tomatoes 2 (Chopped)
Tamarind - small lemon sized (soaked)
Carrots (sliced)
Raddish(sliced) You can use any vegetable u like
Turmeric
Oil 2 tbsp(optional)
Mustard seeds 1/4 tbsp
Cumin Seeds 1/4 tbsp
Red Chillies 2
Curry leaves few
Sambar Powder 2 tbsp ( I use MTR sambar powder)


PREPARATION

1. Pressure cook toor dal, tomatoes and turmeric with 2 cups of water till the dal is well cooked. Mash the whole mixture.

2. In a heavy bottom pan, heat oil and do the seasoning, add green chilli and onions. Microwave the vegetable pieces until they are cooked and add them to the cooked onions.

3. Add cooked dal, tamarind extract, sambar powder and enough water to the pan. Add salt and bring it to a boil. Garnish with cilantro.

My hubby loves to have it with idli...so its our breakfast today.