Brahmin Sambar (Lentil based vegetable chowder)

I can tell you that Sambar is one of the many dishes I refused to try until I knew that I could make it just right! There are a few such dishes I took time to cook not withholding Keralite Fish curry which I have made countless times now, avial, etc!

The best Sambar I have had thus far are three, my Mom's (as always), my hubby's Mom (I refuse to call her my MIL as she is one of the sweetest people I have been blessed with. In fact when I was getting married, I was warned by my Dad not to upset her ever! Apparently everyone in the families knew of her nature and my dad knows what a little tom-boy I could have been. I can tell you for certain I have never upset her till date although I have cried on her shoulders a couple of times. She is an excellent listener too! I feel sorry for those who crib about their mom in law! Anyways I better stop about talking her. I know a zillion women who would be jealous at knowing that such a MIL exists :)! I don't want any bad eyes to fall upon her :D!) The third is of a woman I don't want to rave about as she turned out to be a thief - she was our part-time maid and there is this tradition of a new mum having mostly vegetarian food right after having a baby esp. during the first 40 days. This lady used to make me some amazing Sambar after I had Izzy. If I could I would ask her how to make it in lieu of some of the money she stole but even if I knew her number she probably would not answer as she owes us a lot of money (not considering the cash she stole from both Dad and Mom).

This was a recipe I have tried on my own considering all three recipes plus some advice from my friends who come from a Brahmin household. Remember Sambar can have as many variations of vegetables. I have suggested ones that I have recently tried. You can opt out any vegetable with which you are not comfortable.

Sambar goes well with rice, idlis (steamed cake of rice) or dosas (Fermented crepe made from rice and ground pulses). I remember in Dubai we used to conveniently get  cut vegetables called Sambar mix vegetables either from Sunrise Supermarket or Lulu. No such luck here! :-(

You need:

• 5-6 small onions, crushed with the back of your knife
• 7-8 cloves of garlic, crushed and diced (Nos of cloves are optional but I like my sambhar to be accented with garlic flavour)
• 1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds
• Vegetables - carrots (2 nos), drumsticks(3-4 nos, each stick cut into 2" each), eggplants(4 nos small sized), ash gourd (400-500 gms), potatoes (2-3 nos), okra (300-400 gms), tomatoes (2 nos); chopped in medium bite size pieces
• 1 cup Toor dal
• 1 tbsp Chana dal (optional) [I sometimes add masoor dal or moong dal instead of chana dal]
• 1 tbsp Sambar powder (My marital mom introduced me to Brahmins' Sambar powder. In case you do not have Sambar powder where you stay, you can attempt to make it. Recipe here or here)
• 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder
• 2 pinches Asafeotida
• Tamarind (1 gooseberry sized ball ), soak in hot water and strained
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tbsp Red Chili powder
• 1 cup gated coconut (optional) [I would add coconut very rarely - not a practice at home]
• Curry leaves, 1 sprig
• Salt to taste

For the seasoning:

• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• Curry leaves, 1 sprig
• Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp, chopped finely
• Oil

The Make
 Cooking Time: 25-30 minutes | Preparation time: 10 minutes | Serves 3-4 adults

1. In the pressure cooker, cook the washed/cleaned toor dal, add a pinch of turmeric powder and asafoetida.
2. In a large covered pot, cook the vegetables (except the okra and drumsticks) with the turmeric powder, salt and tamarind juice.
3. Meanwhile, in a small pan, add a drizzle of oil, the onions, half quantity of crushed garlic and sambar powder. Saute well taking care not to burn it. Next add in the okra and drumsticks and saute for about 2 minutes. Add this to the cooked vegetables.
4. Next in the same small pan, add another drizzle of oil. Toss in the curry leaves, chana dal, fenugreek seeds, red chili powder and coriander powder. Saute well. Then set aside to cool and grind it a paste. You can add the coconut (optional) at this stage and make it into a fine paste.
5. Once the vegetables are cooked, add the ground mix and pressure cooked dal to it.
6. Add some oil to the small pan, add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and remaining garlic. Saute for a minute on medium-low heat. Set aside.
7. Add salt to taste to the cooked vegetables and allow it to run to a boil.Once bubbles appear, add the seasoned oil from the small pan.
8. Garnish the Sambar with the coriander leaves and serve hot with rice of your choice or idlis/dosas.

*The pictures I have added are from two versions of Sambar I made. Variations are in terms of the dals used and the choice of vegetables.

Lemon Rice with Paneer

Lemon Rice has always been one of my favourites since childhood. We had a live-in maid growing up and her name is 'Aleyamma'. She often made lemon rice. Though I never liked rice much, a heap full of lemon rice always brought a smile to my face and she made it sooo well. She was quite young so was more like a friend to us. She never hesitated making lemon rice for me whenever I asked as I was such a poor eater back then. I guess I always loved the tangy flavour of the rice and anything salted or tangy found its way in my good books back then.

Ever since I got married, my husband who has always followed all the Orthodox Christian lenten practices, had inspired me to follow the same. So that is 50 days of lent before Easter, 14 days in August before the Feast of Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary, the 7 days before Mama Mary's birthday in September and the 24 days before Christmas.

I wanted to incorporate some protein in the Lemon Rice itself as I was not much in the mood for cooking. I had made some paneer which was in the freezer. So eureka moment I just thought of combining the two.

This is a super simple recipe so I recommend this for a lazy last day of the week or even a busy mid week meal.

You need:

• 2 cups of  Cooked long grain or Basmati Rice
• 1 cup of Paneer, cut into bite size or small cubes as preferred
• A sprig of  Curry leaves 
• 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
• 2 whole dried Kashmiri Red Chilies, hand torn into pieces ( I left it whole as my toddler is anti-spice eater)
• 1 tsp grated Ginger
• 1 clove of crushed Garlic (optional)
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp Lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp Urad dal (split Black Lentils)
• 1 tsp Chana dal (split Bengal Gram)
• Salt to taste
• 1.5 tbsp Oil
• Mint leaves, minced (optional)
• Yoghurt (optional)

**(If you look at the minimal background carefully you can see my little one's angry birds' drinking glass! She was all ready to have her yellow rice. She loved it and her expressions reminded me of mine when I was as young as she was! Smiling from ear to ear ;-) )

The Make
Preparation time: 5 minutes | Cooking time: 15-20 minutes (includes rice cooking time) | Serves : 4 adults

1. In a flat non-stick pan, drizzle and heat some oil. Add the paneer pieces. Pinch and spread some salt over the paneer cubes. Fry until lightly browned on both side.
2. Heat the oil in a large wok or non-stick pan and splutter the mustard seeds.
3.. Next add the curry leaves, followed by the Urad dal, Chana dal and saute well for a minute on medium-low heat.
4. Next add the crushed garlic, ginger, red chilies and saute for a minute.
5. Add the turmeric powder and slowly fold in the rice, taking care not to mash the rice on medium heat for about 2 minutes. Continue tossing.
6. Add the prepared paneer cubes and fold in and leave on heat for a minute folding well.
7. Add the salt, lemon juice and fold occasionally for another minute on medium-low heat.

Serve hot with a cup of yoghurt with some mint leaves on top on the side.