Tirunelveli Sambhar – Nellai Sambhar
This Tirunelveli Sambhar is famous in the Nellai/Tirunelveli region of Tamil Nadu and hence also called Nellai Sambhar. This brings in unique taste from that region and is a good side for rice as part of the south Indian meal.
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 76kcal
Equipment
- Kadai
- Pot
- spatula
- Grinder
Ingredients
- Tamarind Lemon sized ball
- ½ Tuvaram paruppu / Toor dal
- 1 medium Onion chopped
- 1 Tomato optional
- 1 ½ cups Any vegetable of your choice chopped, I used okra
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- a pinch Asafetida
- to taste Salt
To Temper –
- 2 teaspoon Oil
- 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoon Urad dal/Ullutham paruppu
- 1 teaspoon Methi seeds / Fenugreek
- few Curry leaves
Grind into paste –
- ½ small one Onion
- 4-5 Red chilies
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- ¼ cup Coconut
Instructions
- Soak the tamarind in 1 cup of hot water for few minutes and extract the pulp. Again add ½ cup of water to the tamarind and extract the remaining water. Keep aside.
- Wash the toor dal well and add enough water and turmeric powder. Cook it in a pressure cooker until soft and mushy. Keep aside.
- Grind the ingredients mentioned under grind to paste. Do not fry any of the ingredients. They are ground raw. Keep it aside.
- In a pot, heat the oil and add the ingredients mentioned under ‘to temper’ list. Let it fry for a minute and then add the onions. Fry the onions until translucent and then add the vegetable of your choice. Fry it for 2-3 minutes and then add the extracted tamarind water and salt needed.
- Let the mixture boil for 10-12 minutes, until the raw smell from the tamarind disappears and the vegetable cooks.
- Now add the ground paste and the cooked toor dal and mix well. Adjust the consistency of the sambhar and let it come to a boil. Simmer it for about- 10-12 minutes until aromatic.
- Serve hot with rice!
Nutrition
Calories: 76kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 26mg | Potassium: 210mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 2579IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1mg