← Nouns Cooking · Indian

Ingredients

• 150 g toor dal (or red lentils), rinsed
• 1 l water, divided
• ½ tsp Ground turmeric
• 6 small shallots, peeled, halved if large
• 1 Tomato, chopped
• 1 Carrot, cut into chunks
• 1 small aubergine, cut into chunks
• 100 g green beans or okra, cut into 4 cm pieces
• 150 g pumpkin or squash, cubed (optional)
• 1½ tbsp tamarind paste
• 2 tbsp Sambar powder
• 1½ tsp salt, or to taste
• 1 tsp jaggery or brown sugar (optional)
• 2 tbsp oil (coconut oil is lovely)
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• ¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
• 2 dried red chillies
• 1 sprig Curry leaves
• 1 pinch Asafoetida (hing) (optional)
• 2 tbsp Coriander (cilantro), chopped

Method

1. Put the dal, 600 ml of the water and the turmeric in a pot. Bring to the boil, skim, then simmer partly covered for 30–35 min, until completely soft. Whisk until smooth.
2. Meanwhile, put the shallots, tomato, carrot, aubergine, beans and pumpkin in another pan with the remaining 400 ml water and a pinch of salt. Simmer for 10–12 min, until the vegetables are just tender.
3. Stir the tamarind paste and sambar powder into the vegetables and simmer for 5 min, until the raw spice smell is gone.
4. Add the mashed dal, salt and jaggery and simmer gently for 5–8 min, stirring, so the flavours come together. Add hot water if needed: sambar should be pourable, like a thick soup.
5. For the tempering, heat the oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the mustard seeds and when they start to pop, add the fenugreek, dried chillies and curry leaves (stand back, they spit) for 30 seconds. Stir in the asafoetida and pour it all into the sambar.
6. Scatter with coriander and serve with rice, idli or dosa.

Tips

• Many sambar powders and most asafoetida contain wheat flour or are blended with it; check the label for gluten-free versions if needed.
• Any sturdy vegetables work: drumsticks (moringa), radish, okra and potato are all traditional.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food Ministry of Curry Cook With Manali