Last year, during our vacation in Kerala, our hotel happened to be very close to a major spices market. While shopping for them and enjoying every bit of the different fragrances, we suddenly stopped at a stall as I could smell an amazing Sambar Masala smell! None of the other stalls had any ground masalas to offer. So with very hopeful eyes, went and asked the shop owner if he had ground Sambar Masala, and to my disappointment, he denied, instead offered us his sambar lunch.
With a very sad, sincere and pleading expression, asked the shop owner if he could, by any chance, get me some traditional Sambar Masala. He quickly responded with ''One minute sister'' and got busy on his phone. I thought he was talking to one of his customers, as he seemed to be bargaining big time! He came back within 5 minutes, and said ''sister how much''. Not exaggerating, but with a shrilly excited voice I told him as much as you can! And it turned out, he was talking to his mother, convincing her to give away her FRESHLY ground sambar masala which she had made for her household! I almost hugged the guy with joy! Just the smell of the sambar that he was having for lunch, drove me crazy enough to make him have a little argument with his mother and take away all her masala! I have been, very very carefully using that masala for the past one year, and now I am almost out of it!
I was looking for a traditional masala recipe, and after surfing a lot on other blogs, and trying them out, I found one recipe on Uma's Blog which tasted almost the same as the masala I managed to get from Kerala.
ABSOLUTELY delicious!
A definite must-try.
With a very sad, sincere and pleading expression, asked the shop owner if he could, by any chance, get me some traditional Sambar Masala. He quickly responded with ''One minute sister'' and got busy on his phone. I thought he was talking to one of his customers, as he seemed to be bargaining big time! He came back within 5 minutes, and said ''sister how much''. Not exaggerating, but with a shrilly excited voice I told him as much as you can! And it turned out, he was talking to his mother, convincing her to give away her FRESHLY ground sambar masala which she had made for her household! I almost hugged the guy with joy! Just the smell of the sambar that he was having for lunch, drove me crazy enough to make him have a little argument with his mother and take away all her masala! I have been, very very carefully using that masala for the past one year, and now I am almost out of it!
I was looking for a traditional masala recipe, and after surfing a lot on other blogs, and trying them out, I found one recipe on Uma's Blog which tasted almost the same as the masala I managed to get from Kerala.
ABSOLUTELY delicious!
A definite must-try.
PREP TIME TOTAL TIME PORTIONS | 15 - 20 Minutes 30 - 45 Minutes 250 gms approximately |
INGREDIENTS Dry Red Chillies Coriander Seeds Urad Dal Channa Dal TUr Dal Par Boiled Rice Pepper Corns Cumin Seeds Mustard Seeds Fenugreek Seeds Asafoetida Curry Leaves | QUANTITY 65 gms, Preferably use kashmiri chillies, as this would give the sambar powder a great colour 65 gms 15 gms 15 gms 15 gms 15 gms 15 gms 15 gms 1.5 tbsp 5 gms 5 gms 1/4 cup |
RECIPE
All the ingredients should be roasted separately as they all have different cooking times and temperatures to become crispy.
All the ingredients should be roasted separately as they all have different cooking times and temperatures to become crispy.
Roast the coriander seeds on a medium flame, stirring frequently, till they become slightly brown and look crispy.
The pepper corns also should be roasted on a medium flame, stirring frequently, till they get a slight white coat.
The pepper corns also should be roasted on a medium flame, stirring frequently, till they get a slight white coat.
Roast the chillies on a medium flame, till they become darker in colour and sound more hollow than before. Be careful with the chillies, as they give out a smoke that irritates the eyes and the throat
The mustard and fenugreek seeds can be roasted together, till they become slightly darker in colour.
The mustard and fenugreek seeds can be roasted together, till they become slightly darker in colour.
I usually use dried curry leaves, so roasting them hardly took 2 - 3 minutes, but when using fresh curry leaves, they need to be roasted till all the water content of the leaves is evaporated and they become crispy.
All the dals can be roasted together on a low flame till they become golden brown.
All the dals can be roasted together on a low flame till they become golden brown.
Grind all the ingredients to a very fine powder.
It can be stored in an air tight container.
It can be stored in an air tight container.
MY NOTES
Using rice would help maintain the sambar consistency and keep it thick.
I ran out of Cumin Seeds, and hence have used roasted cumin powder.