IDLI SAMBAR AND CHUTNEY

For Idli:
Ingredients:
Rice – 4 cups
Udad dal – 2 cups

Procedure:
Use different containers for rice and udad dal. Wash them with water till the water runs clear. Fill the containers with water, 2-3 inch above the rice and dal. Let them soak over night. Then next day grind the rice and dal to form a batter. Add little water while grinding. I grind the dal first and then the rice. Mix all the batter well and cover the container and keep aside to ferment in a warm place. I keep the batter in oven and keep the light ON. And when the batter doubles in size, its ready to use.

For Sambar:
Toor dal – 2/3 cups
Onion – 1, medium chopped
Lauki (bottle gourd) – ½ cut into chunks
Small eggplant – 3, cut into pieces
Potato – 1, small chopped
Bhendi (Okra) – 3-4 chopped
Tomato – 1, medium chopped
Garlic – 2-3 cloves, chopped
Curry leaves – 4-5
Tamarind pulp – ½ tsp
Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
Fenugreek seeds – ¼ tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Hing – a pinch
Red chili powder – ½ tsp
Garam masala – ½ tsp
Sambar masala – 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves
Salt

Cooking Procedure:
Wash the dal, till the water runs clear. Pressure cook the dal with 3 cups of water, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp oil.

Cut the vegetables as shown in picture below

In a big pot, heat some oil. Add mustard seeds, when the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the fenugreek seeds. Then add the onion. Fry the onion till translucent. Then add the garlic and curry leaves and fry for a minute. Then add all the vegetables except the bhendi. Fry for two mins on medium high heat, stirring continuously. Reduce the flame then add the turmeric powder, hing, red chili powder, garam masala and salt. Stir to combine all the vegetables with masala. Then add the dal and sambar masala. Bring everything to a boil. Now add the tamarind paste and bhendi. Continue cooking till the vegetables become tender. Finally garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
You can substitute the vegetables with other vegetables like pumpkin, drumsticks, cauliflower. You can use these vegetables in combination. If you don’t have all the vegetables mentioned above, you can also make sambar with 2 vegetables.

For Chutney:
Roasted peanuts – 1 cup
Green chilies – 3-4
Garlic – 2-3
Chopped Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp
Salt
Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/8 tsp
Hing – a pinch

Cooking procedure:
Combine roasted peanuts, green chilies, garlic, coriander leaves and salt. Blend this mixture to make a fine paste. Add little water if required. In a non stick pot, heat some oil. Then add the mustard seeds, when they start to splutter, add the cumin seeds, curry leaves, hing and turmeric powder. Then add the peanut paste and mix well. Add water if required. Bring the chutney to a boil and continue cooking for 2-3 mins. Now the chutney is ready to serve. This chutney taste good when served hot. We like our chutney little watery. You can adjust the amount of water as per your taste. Also this chutney becomes thick as it cools. This chutney tastes good with idli, dosa, uttapam and also in sandwiches.