Vendakkai Sambar
Tamil Brahmin sambar with sautéed okra (vendakkai), pearl onions, toor dal and freshly ground sambar masala. The okra is shallow-fried first to remove sliminess. Eaten with steamed rice and a poriyal as the first course of the Iyer sapadu.
Ingredients
Garnish
- coriander — 8 g
- Sambar Onion (Pearl Onion) — 60 g (peeled)
- Sesame Oil — 20 g
- Turmeric — 2 g
- Tamarind (Block) — 18 g
- Sambar Powder — 18 g
- Asafoetida — 1 g
- methi seeds — 1 g
- salt — 8 g
- Mustard Seeds (Black) — 3 g
- tomato ripe — 80 g
- bhindi — 200 g (cut-1-inch-pieces)
- Curry Leaves — 3 g
- Toor Dal — 75 g
- dry red chillies — 2 g
Method
- Pressure-cook 75 g toor dal with 250 ml water and a pinch of turmeric for 4 whistles. Mash to a smooth consistency.
- Soak 18 g tamarind in 200 ml warm water for 10 minutes; squeeze out the pulp.
- Heat 10 g sesame oil in a wide pan. Sauté the chopped okra on medium-high until the sliminess is gone (~5 minutes). Remove and set aside.
- In the same pan, add 5 g sesame oil, sauté the peeled pearl onions until translucent. Add tomato and cook till soft.
- Add the tamarind extract, sambar powder, turmeric, salt and 200 ml water. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes until raw smell goes.
- Add the sautéed okra and the mashed dal. Simmer 5 minutes — sambar should be of pourable consistency, neither too thick nor watery.
- Heat remaining 5 g oil in a tempering pan. Splutter mustard seeds, fenugreek, dried red chilli, asafoetida, curry leaves. Pour over the sambar.
- Garnish with chopped coriander. Serve hot with steamed rice and a teaspoon of ghee.
Common questions
- How many calories in one plate of Vendakkai Sambar?
- 174 kcal per plate.
- How much cooking time?
- 40 min — 15 min prep, 25 min cooking.