YOUR OWN SPECIAL
SAMBAR POWDER
 |
| Saambar made using your own special sambar powder with dosa |
Ingredients:
1) Coriander seeds
– 50 gm.
2) Fenugreek seeds
– 25 gm.
3) Asafoetida –
a 20 gram bit
4) Dry turmeric
(preferably Wayanadan) – 25 gm.
5) Hot dry red
chilies – 50 gm.
6) Tender
leaves of pomello or grapefruit – 3 Nos. (if not available, you can make do
with 5 or 6 lime or lemon leaves)
To Make:
Set a thick cast iron wok on high heat. Put in all the
ingredients. Stir frequently. As the ingredients get hot, lower the flame and
continue to stir frequently, taking care not to let anything burn at the base. As
soon as the chilies are crispy, switch off the heat. Continue to stir for
another 3 minutes to allow the residual heat in the wok to disperse. Let cool
naturally without covering up. As soon as the roasted ingredients are cool, put
them in a food processor and grind to fine powder. When cool, store in a dry
airtight container for future use.
You can prepare many different types of sambar or saambar using your own special sambar powder. I often
prepare regular saambar, shallot sambar, cucumber sambar, mixed vegetable sambar or
roasted coconut sambar using my own sambar powder.
In my ‘saambar’ recipe, I have used the commercially
available sambar powder which needs to be used in much larger quantities along
with an extra helping of turmeric powder. If you make your own sambar powder as given in this recipe, you will find that
just half the quantity or even less will suffice to give you a much more
fragrant, tastier sambar (your own
sambar powder contains none of the fillers such as lentil powder or
chickpea powder which make up the bulk of commercial sambar powder).
The pomello leaf and the turmeric from Wayanad district of Kerala
have an important role to play in the appetizing, salivating fragrance of the
powder.
If you include a little bit of tamarind juice when you cook
the vegetables, your saambar will be still tastier.
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