Tiffin Sambar | Moong Dal Sambar | Sambar wirh Freshly Ground Masala | Side dish for Idli/Dosa

Sambar with freshly prepared sambar powder.My mom always makes fresh small batch of sambar powder every time she makes sambar.I have never seen her buying sambar powder from the grocery shop.And the sambar she makes tastes divine and I miss them so badly as I only have memories of her as she left the world so early.For one dinner I want to try sambar as my mom do and I did it.I explained to my daughter how her granny cooks sambar with fresh masala and how tasty it would be.I feel sad that my kids have no chance to get the love and affection for thier granny.

In my mother's pantry, she usually stocks up red chilly powder and roasted coriander powder which she gets done in big batch from a flour mill.So while making sambar she just fries other masala for sambar powder,powders it and adds the roasted coriander powder she has.Since don't stock up a huge batch of roasted coriander powder I have roasted the coriander seeds here to make sambar powder.

For tiffin sambar, we need not add any veggies we can just make it plain.One day I made it plain and on another day I just used a brinjal.

Preparation time:10 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins
Serves:2-3

Ingredients:

• Moong dal -1\3 cup
• Turmeric powder-1\2 tsp
• Asafoetida- small piece, 1 tsp if powder form
• Oil-2 tsp
• Mustard-1\2 tsp
• Onion-1,chopped
• Tomato-1, chopped
• Brinjal -1, (optional) 
• Curry leaves-few
• Salt to taste

To roast & powder it:

• Whole red chilly- 4 or 5
• coriander seeds-2 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds-1\2 tsp
• Jeera seeds-1\2 tsp
• Channa dal-1 tsp
• Raw rice-1\2 tsp

 Method:

1.Dry roast the ingredients given under " roast & powder". Cool and powder it.

2.Cook moong dal with asafoetida & turmeric by either pressure cook or open pan.( since this dal gets cooked easily I used open pan).

3.Heat oil in a wok , pop out mustard seeds.Then add in onion,tomato,curry leaves one by one.When onion becomes translucent add in brinjal ( if using) and saute for a while.

4.Then add the cooked dal, powdered masala ( don't add fully, check & add accordingly) and salt.Add water.Allow it to boil.

5.When it boils and an aroma comes switch off.

Sprinkle coriander leaves and serve for idli/dosa.