Sambar dhal
From Cookipedia
| Sambar dhal | |
|---|---|
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| Sambar dal, nan, rice and yoghurt | |
| Servings: | Serves 4 |
| Ready in: | 1 hour |
| Prep. time: | 20 minutes |
| Cook time: | 40 minutes |
| Difficulty: | 
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Sambar dhal (sambar dal), (sanber daal is a lentil stew or chowder. It is very popular in the cooking of southern regions of India especially in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
A nice vegetarian accompaniment or even a main dish if served with pillau rice and poppadoms or nan breads.
Ingredients
Ingredients
Printable 🖨 shopping 🛒 list & 👩🍳 method for this recipe
- 250 g (8 oz) red lentils
- 850 ml (1.5 pints) water or vegetable stock
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 4 green chillies, sliced lengthways
- 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
- 250 g (8 oz) aubergine, cut into strips
- 240 g (8 oz) can of peeled tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee
- 2 onions, peeled and chopped
- 4 Cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed (or to taste)
- 2 cm (1 ") ginger root, peeled and grated - Try home-made lazy ginger instead.
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds ground to a powder
- 1 teaspoon white cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- ½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 scant teaspoon [jaggery]] or sugar
Method
- Rinse the lentils, place in a large pan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the turmeric, chillies, coriander leaves and turmeric powder, aubergines and tomatoes and juice, salt & sugar. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the lentils are very soft.
- Heat the oil in a small pan. Sauté the onions and garlic for 4 minutes or until soft and golden.
- Add the ginger, cumin, fenugreek and mustard seeds and fry for 2 minutes.
- Stir the onion mix into the lentils and serve.
Chef's notes
I like to powder half of the spices and very roughly grind the remaining half to get a coarse spice mix that holds little taste-bursts when you get them.