Udupi Sambar
Udupi Sambar is a South Indian style tangy, spicy and slightly sweet lentil and pumpkin based curry
Ingredients
- 200 grams Roughly chopped Yellow Pumpkin
- 125 grams Roughly chopped Ash Gourd
- 2 Green Brinjal or Regular Brinjal
- 1 Tomato Medium sized
- ½ cup Toor Dal
- Lemon sized Tamarind ball Soaked in ½ cup water
- 2 sprigs Curry Leaves
- 2 tbsp Coconut Oil
- 2 tsp Sunflower Oil
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 tsp Urad Dal
- ½ tsp Asafoetida
- 1.5 tbsp Powdered Jaggery
- Salt to taste
For Sambar Masala
- 1 tsp Channa Dal
- 1 tsp Urad Dal
- 2 tsp Coriander or Dhaniya seeds
- 6-7 Byadagi Chillies
- ½ tsp Cumin or Jeera
- ¼ tsp Methi or Fenugreek Seeds
- 3 tsp Grated Coconut
- 4 to 5 Peppercorns
- 1 Sprig Curry Leaves
- 1 tsp Oil
Instructions
- Pressure cook half cup toor dal with around 1 cup of water and some turmeric powder for around 6 whistles or till it is completely cooked. Mash the cooked toor dal well and keep aside.
- In a pan, add 1 teaspoon oil and on a low flame dry roast all ingredients mentioned in the sambar masala, starting with channa dal, urad dal, fenugreek and peppercorn, chillies and finally coconut and curry leaves. The ingredients need not be roasted much and have to just slightly change colour.
- Cool the roasted ingredients and grind to a fine paste along with some water.
- Chop the veggies in large chunks. In a pot, heat 2 teaspoon oil and first add the yellow pumpkin and roast for a minute.
- Next add the other veggies (ash gourd, brinjal and tomato) and sauté for 1 minute. Add some turmeric powder and salt and little water and cover and cook for around 7-8 minutes.
- Once the vegetables are around 60-70% cooked, add the tamarind extract from the tamarind which was soaked earlier. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Now add the ground masala, asafoetida and cook for further 2-3 minutes.
- Finally add the cooked and mashed toor dal, jaggery and some water and cover and cook for 8-10 minutes. Keep stirring in between as the masala tends to settle down and might burn if left unattended. The sambar tends to get thick after cooling down, so adjust the consistency by adding more water according to your preference.
- For the tempering, heat 2 tablespoons on coconut oil in a separate kadai, and add the mustard seeds and urad dal. Once the mustard seeds start sputtering add the curry leaves and turn off the stove.
- Add this tadka or tempering to the sambar and mix well and serve hot.
Notes
- The yellow pumpkin can be also be added with the skin on if it is not too thick.
- Chop the veggies in big chunks and keep it rustic else they could become too mushy while it is cooked.
- You could also use chow chow or kerala cucumber (dosakai) instead of ash gourd in this sambar. You could also add veggies like drumstick or any other veggies of your choice.
- Try using byadagi red chillies for this sambar as it gives it a distinct and vibrant red colour while not being too spicy. If you are unable to find byadagi chillies, you could make use of Kashmiri red chillies too.
- You could use khopra or dried coconut as well instead of the fresh coconut for the fresh masala.
- Adding some jaggery lifts the sweetness of the yellow pumpkin and gives characteristic taste of Karnataka Sambar.
- Tempering with coconut oil gives a wonderful taste and aroma to this sambar.