I can never imagine making a sambar without lentils, PERIOD! Pressure cooked, mashed lentils is used mainly for getting thicker consistency. So, when I had this thakkali sambar at my friend's place, I simply couldn't believe that the sambar hadn't use any kind of lentils / thickening agents.
Infact, I did not believe until I tried it for myself. And YES, this sambar is one of the quickest & easiest recipes around that goes with any kind of south-Indian breakfast.
Basic Info
Complexity - Simple
Prep time - 5 mins
Cook time - 20 mins
Serves - 4
Ingredients
1 big Onion, finely chopped
4 big Tomatoes
4 green Chillies
1/3 cup grated Coconut
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp split Urid dal
1 sprig Curry leaves
1 tbsp chopped Cilantro
Salt to taste
1 tbsp Oil
Pressure cook tomatoes, green chillies in 1/2 cup of water for 1 whistle and let it cool.
Drain tomatoes & chillies out of the water (reserve the cooked water). Peel the outer layer of tomatoes, and grind it along with green chillies and coconut.
In the meanwhile, heat oil in a saucepan, splutter mustard seeds, fry urid dal until golden brown, add curry leaves, onion and saute until onion is translucent. Add the reserved water and let it boil. To this, add ground tomato-chilli-coconut paste, turmeric powder, salt and let everything come to a boil. (Incase the tomatoes are not pre-cooked, boil the sambar until the raw smell of tomatoes are gone.)
Remove from heat, and add chopped cilantro. Sambar is ready to be served.
