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Onion Sambar Recipe | Hotel Style Onion Sambar | Vengaya Sambar
Onion Sambar Recipe: How about some really really good sambar? Try our hotel style Onion Sambar recipe and you’ll be transported to the Tamil heartland.
Idli-sambar-dosa, the ubiquitous culinary trio along with the obligatory coconut chutney, is now possibly one of the most popular foods in India, and can be found even in most remote hamlets and districts across the country. Bus stations, train stations, local markets, etc. – most boast of at least one idli-dosa stand serving up crisp dosas and sometimes soft idlis with bowls of steaming sambar to dunk in. No longer is this just Udupi food or “South Indian” but has been appropriated by the entire country and made its own. This is now India’s street food at its best, comforting weary travellers, busy housemakers out doing their daily shopping, office goers stopping for a quick nutritious meal, or a family out for a Sunday lunch. And delicious sambar ties these dishes together – a dosa or idli without sambar is like a dish without salt; it’s the necessary ingredient in this meal.
Our Onion Sambar recipe, though called Onion Sambar, does not use any onions in its preparation – only their flavoursome country cousin, shallots - known in parts of the country as sambar onions.Sambar is a staple in the South for breakfast, tiffin, and often at lunch or dinner. It provides the protein in the meal, and is inexpensive to make – yet so delicious!
The recipe for this onion sambar comes from Chettinad in Tamil Nadu via the book “The Bangala Table: Flavors and Recipes from Chettinad”. At The Bangala, a fine hotel in the town of Karaikudi, this small onion sambar recipe is served only at lunch or dinner, while other sambars such as the Whole Shallot Sambar are served at breakfast. The cuisine at The Bangala is absolutely superb and we feel privileged to be able to use their recipe on Yummefy.Now you can learn how to make onion sambar like a hotel chef with our step by step tutorial video and detailed recipe here. Try it!
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RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1⁄2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
5 dried red chillies, whole, mild, preferably goondu milagai
2 teaspoons urad dal (black gram), hulled, split
1⁄2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (methi dana)
1⁄2 teaspoon asafoetida powder (hing)
10 curry leaves
100 grams shallots, (about 18 medium), peeled and sliced in half
200 grams tomato, (about 2 medium), chopped
1 teaspoon coriander powder
2 1⁄2 teaspoons red chilli powder, mild, preferably made from goondu milagai
2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
20 grams tamarind, (about a ¾-inch ball of tamarind) - mix tamarind in 1¼ cup water, kneading with your fingers to make a paste. press through a sieve to remove stringy and tough parts. set aside.
1 cup toor dal, cooked (see toor dal preparation section below)
COOKING METHOD
- In a medium saucepan over high heat, add oil. When hot but not smoking, toss in mustard seeds. Once they start to crackle, add red chillies, stir well, then add urad dal, fenugreek seeds, asafoetida powder, curry leaves and shallots. Stir for about 1 minute, and slide in tomatoes. Continue to stir for about 3 minutes.
- Add coriander powder, chilli powder, salt and tamarind water; allow to cook for 7 minutes or until the raw aroma of chilli powder and coriander powder dissipates. Mash the cooked dal with a potato masher until creamy, and add it to the mixture. Cook another 3 to 4 minutes. Add ⅓ cup water if required.
- Stir well and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and serve hot.
Toor Dal Preparation:
- Rinse 1 cup (200 grams) toor dal well 2 to 3 times till the water runs clear, cleaning carefully to remove any stones or debris.
- Add dal, ¼ teaspoon turmeric, and 1 teaspoon vegetable oil to a large saucepan with 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Then let it simmer, covered, for 30 – 35 minutes or until the dal is creamy and cooked. Alternatively, if using a pressure cooker to cook the dal, add only 2 cups of water, seal the lid of the pressure cooker and place on high heat.
- After the first whistle, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool before opening the lid. Keep in mind that the dal is unsalted and will have to be seasoned later. Should yield 2 cups (only 1 cup is needed for the sambar recipe above).
Credits: “The Bangala Table: Flavors and Recipes from Chettinad” by Sumeet Nair, Meenakshi Meyyappan, with Jill Donenfeld.
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 50 minutes
Cook Time: 23 minutes
- In a medium saucepan over high heat, add oil. When hot but not smoking, toss in mustard seeds. Once they start to crackle, add red chillies, stir well, then add urad dal, fenugreek seeds, asafoetida powder, curry leaves and shallots. Stir for about 1 minute, and slide in tomatoes. Continue to stir for about 3 minutes.
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