Monday, June 11, 2007

Murungaikkai / Drumsticks Sambhar


I am happy to note that many of the bloggers vote for the homemade powders than the store bought ones.To prepare them at home is ofcourse an extra task for most of you but definitely hygienic,more aromatic,un adulterated and has a longer shelf life. Did anyone say,"oof not that recipe again..that's something we whip up quite often..naah!."




Well, Archana, who comes up with the best of her tried and tested recipes, book marked the recipe of the homemade sambhar powder,but claims she is not able to make good sambhar.

This recipe is intended for my readers who need help to make the same.

Ingredients:

1 cup of thuar dal
½ tsp of turmeric powder
A small lime sized ball of tamarind
2-3 drumsticks, each cut into 3” pieces
2 tsps of homemade sambhar powder or store bought of your choice
Salt-to taste

To temper,
A tbsp or refined oil
½ tsp of mustards
½ tsp of urad dal
2 pinches of hing/perunkayam
10-15 small sized pearl onions/chinna vengayam/ulli
3 green chillies slit lengthwise
A stalk of curry leaves/karuveppilai
Cilantro/kothamalli

Method:

1.Soak tamarind in warm water.Extract the thick pulp.

2.Pressure cook dal in enough water with turmeric powder.

3.Heat oil in a deep pan,keeping the flame medium, splutter mustards and brown the urad dal.Add hing.Immediately add the onions and green chillies , sauteing continuously.Add the curry leaves.

4.Add about 2 cups of water to the pan.when it boils add the drumstick pieces, close the pan with a lid and simmer till they are ‘almost’cooked.

5.Add ½ tsp of salt and the tamarind extract and let it simmer for a few minutes.Now add the sambhar powder,stirring slowly to avoid lumps.

6.Open the cooker,strain the water on top,(keep this aside and add lastly to the sambhar if too thick)and mash the dal well with the round end of a ladle.Add dal to the pan,letting it simmer for 10 more mins.

7.Check salt and the consistency of the sambhar,as it should not be too thick or too watery.Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with rice.


P.S-Drumsticks can be substituted by almost ANY veg of your choice.You can try with a combination of potatoes,carrots and beans… go for drumsticks,brinjals,tomatoes and so on.Please make sure that the veg are chunky enough and not overcooked.
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Thanks a lot,Archana,for having considered the recipe for Going Lite,MBP.

41 comments:

  1. Bharathy I have made the sambhar podi in the afternoon today, and I was just going to tell you when I saw the post . Thanks a million Bharathy :)
    The smell of the podi is so fresh and lovely sambhar aroma. Best is very few ingredients are used, and so simple to make.
    Now tomorrow it will be sambhar rice lunch :)Thanks again :)
    Your sambhar is really looking nice!After I make it I will tell you. I am so thrilled :)

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  2. I love making fresh powders.It smells so good.Love the look of Grumsticks sambhar.I made it about 2 weeks ago,will post sometime later.
    Thanks for this recipe Bharathy,looks yummy:)

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  3. Hi Bharathy,first time here.Sambar looks great!It is one of my favourite recipes and I can happily survive in idli sambar or sambar-rice.I also love home made powders, and always make my own.I make my mom's recipe.

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  4. ur sambar looks so thick & nice with a lovely color! i can almost smell the aroma of fresh ground powder :)
    it's such a well liked dish :)

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  5. Drumstick sambar and okra fry is my fav combo! Warm sunlight adds a beautiful touch to the photo.

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  6. This is my fav dish....live it...Nice pictures..

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  7. I love murungakai sambar, but get only frozen ones. it doesn't taste that good. lovely looking sambar.

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  8. loved your sambar recipe,really nice one..

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  9. Bharathy,I just made sambhar few minutes back, it is excellent.The aroma is wonderful :)
    The quantities of each item in the recipe is perfect and both the recipes sambhar podi and sambhar are flawless.
    You explained the method so well that I enjoyed making it.
    Since the drumsticks were not available I used onions ,yellow pumpkin ,beans. Ok combo ?
    I reduced the chilis slightly in the masala. The masala colour is red like yours.
    Thanks Bharathy again for giving me such wonderful recipes. I have already noted them in my diary ;)
    Also you gave cup measurement along with grams that helped while making the masala :)

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  10. I have a family which drinks sambar!.... loved your sambar recipe, though i dont find any fresh drumsticks here!

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  11. Yummy sambar Bharaty. I make sambar with other veggies also. Nice picture.
    BTW Bharaty I do not have blogger profile as I use wordpress.

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  12. Archana,the recipe is specially posted for YOU,and had made me feel very proud as a blogger..No words to express my gratitude...:D..

    Looking forward to your version,Asha..

    Nice to note that,Vini..

    Hugs to Richa,Suki and Sugi.. :D

    Thanx for your words of appreciation,Richa and Seena..

    That means you are a REAL cook,Nanditha..

    Shiva,I think you can attach your link somehow from blogger profile,even Archana is with wordpress and I am able to move to hers,through her name here..

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  13. Coming here after some time. Loved your vacation pics, very beautiful
    The sambar powder too has a gorgeous colour. I am not from the South and since i don't make Samba much I use MTR. But your powder looks so good that maybe I will give it a try. Do you use this powder for making anything other than Sambar ?

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  14. I love muringakka sambar. I can have that anytime, any day!

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  15. Bharthy,
    Lovely presentation. The sambhar looks just perfect for gulping girl. Drumstick dose indeed add a lot of flavor to the Sambhar. The beans palya on the side looks awesome too.

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  16. Bharathy
    To make the background blur, I take the pic in macro mode and focus on the nearest point.

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  17. Thanks bharaty will check it and thanks for adding me in ur buddy list.

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  18. Love the idea of homemade spice mixes, but too lazy to actually make those :) ... But drumstick sambar looks great, I don't have a consistent recipe for sambar, so this will come handy even with storebought powder :)... actually I do have some homemade powder from my MIL.

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  19. Yeah,Sandeepa,as I have mentioned in the post,in any lentil based curry,dry fries etc..:)..My north indian friends DRINK sambhar!I am sure you people love it!
    Thanx!! for your precious TIP!!!

    Same pinch no back pinch,Jyotsna..

    Thanx for your encouragements,Seema..

    Please,Shiva..check it out..

    Me too(he he) lazy to prepare the powder.Will make it bulk and store it tight enough for 6 months.Mothers In law are more patient for all these and their final products are always perfect as well!!!Try making with hers,taste guarenteed!!:)..

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  20. oh yes...homemade sambar powder gives that extra flavour and whole new meaning of taste isn't it? love the brigh colour of sambar powder and this pic of sambar with drumsticks floating on surface just took my breath away...

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  21. hi ur sambhar is absolutely delicious

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  22. this looks delicious, great combo with the beans sabzi... I can see it peeking out. :)

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  23. Love murungakkai in sambar Bharathy. looks lovely with beans poriyal.

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  24. Hi Bharathy, That was perfect presentation of sambar. I tried it out and it came out tasty. Thank you.

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  25. Feeling elated to read ur words,Sia.

    Welcome back ,Santhi.

    He he,Mandira,actually I took the pics when my daughter was impatiently waiting with the plain rice on her lunch plate,so could n't take the proper one of the sabzi as she threatened to snatch all from my focus point :D..

    UMA...welcome to the blogging world...and to my place.unfortunately couldn't enter your poonthottam..
    I am honoured,Uma!!!:)..

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  26. hi bharathy,
    ur sambhar looks so yummy.thanks for sharing the recipe

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  27. Hi Bharathy,

    that sambar looks so yummy. I love how much gravy you ended up making. I have to admit that i looked almost everywhere at your blog and really really admired your pics. they look so appetizing.

    thanx a lot

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  28. Bharathy,

    I googled for sambar powder recipe today because i was out of the store bought powder. Your page came up; the recipe sounded awesome, and the sambar looked so appetising, I decided to try it out. It came out wonderfully.. I added dessicated coconut, urad dal and substituted kasuri methi instead of the seeds in the powder recipe; and in my sambar i had mixed veggies, radish and drumstick! a real melange, it tasted awesome, much better than sambar made with the store bought powder. I will never again buy the packet sambar... and i'm bookmarking this page! Thanks a lot!!

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  29. Glad to not that Preeti! I am honoured!..I think sambhar powder and sambhar has been my top hit recipe so far!!..:)
    You can very well make necessary alterations to the basic mix so as to suit your family tastes! :)...you can add the powder to dhal curry or veg dry fries as well! :)...thanks a lot for your wonderful feed back,girl!!!:)

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  30. Hi, I just tried your recipe. It was simple and tastes wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing.

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  31. Thanks for your sambhar... it makes our bachelor life easy

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  32. Thank you Krishnamurthy!I am honoured! :)

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  33. Hi Bharathy,
    Firstly thank you for that wonderful recipe, i tried making pushinikai sambar yesterday, and it turned out wonderful, i shd say the best i have ever made since i started cooking, i am pregnant with my 2nd child and the baby was kicking me a lott, i guess the baby loved it too. I guess i will be a frequent visitor to ur blog hence forth. Thanks a ton again.

    vasudha

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  34. Vasudha!..
    Those were the words flowing "from the heart"!!..
    Absolutley NO words to thank you sweetie :)

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  35. hey Bharathy,
    Wish you a very happy new year. I had a question about Dosa and idily. I have no clue which rice to use, i tried looking out for idily rice but i dont get that here in Maryland. Can i use Long grain rice for making dosa and idily? Could please also tell me the proportions. I would appreciate your help. Thanks Bharathy.

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  36. Vasudha,
    Thanks for the wishes and Have a great year ahead! :)

    Long grain rice would not be suitable for making Idly/dosa
    as far as I know and can suggest either IR20 or CR variety parbolied rice suit the best.The ural dal(ball or "muzhu uzhundu")is added 1/4th of that of rice.In other words...Rice:Uzhundu= 4:1
    If you have any friends in the same locality as yours,you can ask their suggestion too as I am not much aware of the varieties sold there..
    Hope this helps..

    Love,
    Bharathy

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  37. Hi, It tried the recipe and while cooking found that i had only a small amount of tamarind, no curry leaves and just a pinch of mustard. I wanted to make my wife a Tamil sambhar which i love a lot. In spite of all this, the sambhar came great. Thanks for the good recipe.

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  38. Thanks friend :)..it surprises me that this particular sambhar is tried by bachelors/men mostly who had got back with their feedbacks :)
    You can never go wrong with drumsticks, buddy!!! :)..hope your wife liked it!..such a sweet gesture from a loving husband! :)

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  39. I cooked the sambar . It came out really well . Thanx for sharing the recipe .

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  40. Neat way to cook the murungaka without getting soggy ... tried it today and came out good ...

    Thanks....

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  41. I HAVE READ TO MAKE SAMBAR THANKS FOR SHARING

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