Udupi Sambar (2nd recipe)

Udupi Sambar – A fantastic  sweet & sour sambar in Upupi cuisine. This sambar is totally different from normal  South Indian sambar !!

Serves: 3 - 4

Ingredients

For dal :

1/2 cup ( 100 g ) tur dal (Indian standard measuring cup of 100 ml / 4 oz capacity)

300 ml water

1 teaspoon oil

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

Method

For Dal:

Wash and clean tur dal. Soak dal for half an hour.

 Pressure cook tur dal along with water, turmeric powder and  oil for 20 minutes. Water level should be 1 - inch above dal  ( reduce heat after 2nd whistle and  cook on a low heat for 15 minutes). Allow the pressure cooker to cool naturally.

Open the lid. Gently mash cooked da mixture.

Other ingredients for sambar:

200 g pumpkin, gently peel off the outer skin and cut into ½ - inch cubes (or any other vegetables)

½ cup to ¾ cup  water

 3 tablespoons  tamarind juice Small lemon sized tamarind (soak in ¼ cup water for half an hour and then strain it through a fine sieve) or ¾ teaspoon thick tamarind paste

1 teaspoon jaggery

¾ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

2 teaspoon sambar powder (Everest, MTR, Aashirvaad, udupi sambar powder or homemade sambar powder) Dilute sambar powder in 4 teaspoon water. Then it will blend easily with other ingredients

6 tablespoon grated coconut, make a fine paste of coconut in a small mixer bowl with 2 tablespoon water

Method

In a bowl, mix boiled tur dal (along with dal stock), water (1/2 to ¾ cup), pumpkin, tamarind juice or thick paste, jaggery,  salt to taste and diluted sambar  powder. Mix all the ingredients well. Cover with a lid and cook on a medium to low heat for 8 – 10 minutes until pumpkin almost cooked.

At this stage, add coconut paste. Mix well. Cover with lid again and cook on a low heat for  another 8 minutes. Sambar is ready now.

For seasoning :

2 teaspoon cooking oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 spring curry leaves (6 nos)

1 red chilli, halved

For seasoning :

Heat oil in a pan . Add mustard seeds. When they start crackle, add curry leaves and halved red chilli. Saute for 1 - 2 minutes until fragrant and crisp. Pour this seasoning over sambar. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves (optional). Serve with Idli / Dosa / Vada / Rice ....