Hotel Sambar Recipe | Tiffin Sambar

       Sambar a traditional south Indian dish served with idli,dosa,pongal,vadai for breakfast. Sambar is nothing but a soup prepared with pressure cooked and mashed dal, with or without vegetables along with onions,tomato and masala powder.This soup can vary in spice from freshly ground masala paste,specially ground masala powder, sambar powder or only with green chilies.This recipe is with fresh ground masala powder ,its thick and is tasty when you eat it along with idli,dosa and a drizzle of gingelly oil on top of them ..hmm

Dried Raw Mango - Maavathal Sambar

     Dried Raw mango my mom makes every year to preserve mangoes.You guys know mangoes are seasonal and comes only in summer.In our house mango is very much liked by all.We all enjoy every bite, when it comes to mango pickle,mango thokku,mango curry and this sun dried mavathal.We kids used to eat when the maa vathal is drying in the sun itself(he he so tasty).I love the semi dried chewy ,tangy,sweet maa vathal more than fully dried ones.

Arachuvitta Sambar|Sambar Recipe

    Arachuvitta sambar is a sambar made with freshly ground masala.This makes the sambar more aromatic and very different than regular sambar.This sambar is a boon for those who don't have sambar powder in hand.Restaurants will do this type of sambar to save lentils.This sambar is exactly brahmin style with no onions or garlic and is useful for fasting days.
   In South India people have a daily routine of making sambar. In my family eating sambar daily is a big no no. So i try to do rasam,dal,poondu kulambu,mor kulambu as variation. Sometimes I make variety rice like curd rice,bisibelabath,chickpeas rice to break the monotony. But the want for different tastes will not subside.
   I love iyengar style sambar very much. Its slightly tangy and slightly sweet, but rich and thick with extra dal. You can eat it with rice,idli,dosa or any breakfast item.
     When I saw this recipe in snehas site something clicked and I added some extra dal to my regular arachuvitta sambar and voila the result was super yummy ..
     I haven't added onion or tomato to this sambar feel free to add it .You can use ash gourd or bottle gourd instead of bell pepper.You can use little ghee to make it more rich. I added sambar powder for extra taste .You can omit it and add one more red chili instead.

FenugreekLeaves Sambar( வெந்தய கீரை சாம்பார்)

I like to include to greens in our diet a lot. Fenugreeak ( Methi ) leaves are one of my favorites. I usually make Methi dal. Today Instead of making the regular, I made Methi Sambar. I know, it's along the same lines. But the finished product tasted very unique and it was really yummy.

Sambar-Chettinad style

Today morning we had pongal along with sambar an unbeatable combination. After our move to the US we usually have pongal almost every sunday or every other sunday. I have kinda became an expert in pongal sambar.

The best pongal I have had has to be ghee pongal at Saravana Bhavan, I can never forget the taste.
We are fortunate to have a Saravana Bhavan here in the east coast. I like their mini lunch which is combination of bisibelabath, sweet pongal and curd rice.

This sambar is  hybrid between chettinad style and madras style and  you can eat with anything Dosa, Idly, Pongal  and Vada. In chettinad style sambar we use only green chilis for spice and we do not use sambhar powder. There will be another post on Vada  Sambar soon.

Preparation time:5 min

Cooking time:15 min

Serves:2-3