Sambar

Sambar is not one recipe, it is a household signature. Every kitchen in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala makes it differently and each of them is right. What stays the same is the shape: dal cooked until it pours like thick cream, a few vegetables cooked tender but whole, tamarind boiled hard so the raw edge goes, and a tadka poured over at the end with the lid straight on. Idli in the morning, rice at noon, dosa at night.

The tadka is where the flavour lives and in the South that means gingelly oil. Wooden cold pressed white sesame oil is pressed slowly in a wooden ghaani, so it keeps a gentle nutty smell that carries the popped mustard, the fenugreek, the hing and the curry leaves straight into the pot instead of leaving them sitting on top. A small piece of Organic Jaggery goes in as well, the way it does in most Tamil homes, to take the sharp edge off the tamarind.

The one rule: after the tamarind extract and sambar powder go in, let the pot come to a proper rolling boil and stay there for five to six minutes before the dal joins it. That is when the raw smell of the tamarind goes and the kitchen starts to smell like sambar. Rush it and no amount of tadka will fix the taste.

How to make it

1. Soak the tamarind in 1 cup warm water for 20 minutes. Squeeze it well, strain, and keep the extract.
2. Pressure cook the toor dal with 2½ cups water and ¼ tsp of the turmeric for 4 to 5 whistles, about 10 minutes. Let the pressure drop on its own, then whisk the dal smooth. It should pour like thick cream.
3. In a separate pot, boil the drumstick, carrot and small onions in 1½ cups water with the rest of the turmeric and half the salt. Cook 8 minutes, then add the brinjal and tomato and cook another 4 to 5 minutes, till everything is tender but still holding its shape.
4. Pour in the tamarind extract, add the sambar powder, jaggery and the rest of the salt. Bring it to a proper rolling boil and let it bubble for 5 to 6 minutes. The raw smell of the tamarind will go and the kitchen will start smelling like sambar.
5. Add the whisked dal and stir well. Add ½ to 1 cup hot water to bring it to the consistency you like, thinner for idli and dosa, thicker for rice.
6. Let it come to a gentle simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. Do not boil it hard once the dal is in, or it separates and looks grainy. Taste and adjust the salt.
7. For the tadka, heat the sesame oil in a small pan on medium. Add the mustard seeds and wait till they pop. Add the fenugreek seeds, red chillies and curry leaves. Fry 20 seconds, then switch off and stir in the hing.
8. Pour the whole tadka into the sambar and put the lid on straight away for 5 minutes so the aroma stays in. Serve hot with rice, idli, dosa or medu vada.

Tips

• The fix for the commonest mistake: if your sambar tastes flat and sour rather than rounded, it needed a longer boil at step 4. Next time hold it at a rolling boil for the full 6 minutes before the dal goes in.
• Storage: sambar keeps 2 days in the fridge and tastes better on day two. It thickens as it sits, so loosen it with hot water and warm it gently. Do not freeze it, the vegetables go soft.
• In Kerala the tadka is done in coconut oil instead of sesame oil, and it is lovely. Use whichever your family grew up with.
• Drumstick, brinjal and small onions is the classic trio, but ash gourd, pumpkin, radish and ladies finger all work. Add ladies finger fried separately, or it turns slimy in the pot.
• No sambar powder in the house? Use 1 tbsp coriander powder, 1 tsp red chilli powder and ¼ tsp fenugreek powder. It is not the same, but it is honest sambar.