Podi Sambar

Podi Sambar for Tiffin

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Podi Sambar is cooked with fresh ground spices and good to be served with Tiffin varieties like idly, dosa, vada and upma. This is my mother's recipe and I just love this one. This can be made as a simple onion sambar or we can add vegetables.

Ingredients:	Quantity
Toor Dal	1 cup
Onions finely chopped	2 nos
Tomatoes finely chopped	2-3 nos
Tamarind paste	2 tbsp
Turmeric Powder	1 tsp
Salt	To taste
Oil	1-2 tbsp
Spice Powder*:
Red Chili	6-8 nos
Coriander Seeds	1/4 cup
Cumin Seeds	1 tbsp
Black Pepper	1 tbsp
Fenugreek Seeds	1/2 tbsp
Asafoetida	1/4 tsp
Oil	1/2 tsp
Tempering:
Mustard Seeds	1 tsp
Cumin Seeds	1 tsp
Urad Dal	1 tsp
Curry Leaves	1-2 strands
Dried Red Chili broken	1-2 nos
Asafoetida	a pinch
Onion Vadagam (Optional)	1 tsp
Oil	1 tsp
Coriander Leaves	To Garnish

Preparation:
1) Cook dal in a pressure cooker with 2 cups water, turmeric powder, salt and a pinch of asafoetida and cook upto 2-3 whistles.
2) Add oil in a saucepan and sauté the onions and let them caramelize.
3) Meanwhile dry roast all the ingredients except red chilies for spice powder. Add oil and roast the red chilies. Blend them into a coarse powder and set aside.
4) Once the onions caramelize, add salt and spice powder and sauté for 1-2 min's.
5) Add the tomatoes and sauté for a min and let it cook for 5-6 min's, then add the tamarind paste and little water, cover and let it cook for few more min's.
6) Add the cooked dal and let it cook for 3-4 min's.
7) Meanwhile in a small pan heat oil and add all the ingredients for tempering and once the mustard sputter add it to the cooked sambar and garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with your favorite tiffin variety.

Sambar can be made slightly thick or thin in consistency, depending on the main dish you serve with. You can add more water and adjust spices and salt in step-5.

Note:* You need not add the entire spice powder to the dish. You can preserve the remaining powder in an air tight container for upto a month. You can add vegetables like carrot, beans, potato at step-4, once the onions caramelize and let them cook until the vegetables are cooked and tender in step-5.