Sambaar / Spicy lentil soup with veggies

Sambaar / Spicy lentil soup with veggies

Sambaar is very popular dish of south India. It a important dish during festivals, wedding or parties too. It is eaten along side other dishes like rice, idli, dosa or vada. Many of the restaurants or eateries serve it with such tiffins.
In our house, sambaar is made on a regular basis to eat with rice, as a side dish. Many people make sambaar with lots of veggies or with few veggies. Carrots, beans, bottle gourd (anapakaya / kaddu/sorakai), bendi (bendakai), brinjal (eggplant), drumsticks (mulakaada) etc., are few which are regularly used. My favorites to use are bottle gourd, onions (is a must, I use pearl onions too sometimes), tomatoes (is a must too), brinjal, bendi and drumsticks.
Since we don't find fresh drumsticks, I used frozen ones. Using grated coconut  is also optional. I use which ever I have at home, fresh, frozen or dry coconut powder.
The recipe is to my taste and consistency, please adjust is to your taste and consistency.

Ingredients:

1 cup cook toor daal / kandhi pappu
almost 2 1/2 to 3 cups of water
1 tomato, chopped big
1 onion, chopped big (use whole pearl onions if you like)
5 green chillies, slit
10-15 pieces of bottled gourd / anapakaya
8-10 pieces of drumsticks
1 -2 tbsp frozen grated coconut (optional)
1 lemon size ball of tamarind (juices squeezed and keep aside)
1-2 tbsp sambaar powder(you can use homemade or store bought, I used MTR brand)
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1 tbsp coriander leaves

For Tempering:

4-5 cloves of garlic, crushed or chopped
1/4 tsp urad daal
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera
2 dry red chillies, broken
4-6 curry leaves
a pinc of hing
2 tbsp oil

Method:

Cook toor daal and keep aside.

In a pot, put about 2 tbsp of water and add the veggies like onion, green chillies, tomato, bottle gourd, drumsticks. Add some salt and let cook till they are soft but not mushy. Add the sambaar powder, chilli powder, turmeric powder and the tamarind juice. Let it cook for couple of minutes. Add the cooked daal and the required amount of water and let it come to a boil. In a tempering pan, heat oil, add garlic, urad daal, mustard seeds, jeera and let them brown and splutter. Then add the red chillies, curry leaves and hing and cook for few seconds before adding to the saambar. Let it come to a boil one more time befor eremoving from heat. Add the grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice, idli, dosa or vada. Enjoy!!!