Shallots Sambar / Small Onion Sambar / Sambar

Shallots Sambar / Small Onion Sambar / Sambar

Shallots are small onions that are mostly used for Sambar. In Andhra, we call them Sambar onions. They are very small but very tasty. The only drawback
of these small onions is that it is time-taking to peel the skin. But, the best method for peeling these small onions is to put them in water for a few minutes and then start peeling them. The skin comes out very easily.

Shallots Sambar is one of the favourites of my man and he can have this with anything - rice, idly, dosa, upma etc. I make this a bit spicy to balance the tanginess and it is really heavenly. Serve this hot shallots sambar with papads and you would not ask for anything more. This is a perfect lunch for any monsoon or rainy day. I prepared this in the morning and packed it for his lunch. After finishing his meal, he sent me a text message saying that it was very nice except that - by the time he ate, it became a little thick. So serve it hot at home. If you are packing in a lunch box, make the consistency a little thin.

Preparation

Pressure cook toor dal until soft. Mash it well and keep aside. Peel the shallots and get them ready. Heat oil in a pan.

When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds.

When they splutter, add curry leaves.

When they are nicely fried, add sliced onions, green chillies and hing.

Fry for a minute and add ginger-garlic paste.

Fry this until a nice aroma fills your kitchen. Now add the shallots and turmeric powder.

Give it a nice mix and add salt.

Cover with a lid and toss after every couple of minutes, taking care not to burn the shallots and other spices. Fry until they turn golden brown in colour.

Add sufficient water to cover the shallots and cook covered.

While this is cooking, get the tamarind juice ready. Add this to the boiling water and again bring it to a boil.

When the shallots are perfectly cooked and soft, add the mashed toor dal.

Mix it well and add sambar powder.

Bring it to boil and add chilli powder.

Now add jaggery and finely chopped coriander leaves.

Let it boil for 5 minutes and remove from flame. Serve hot with rice, ghee and papads.

Ingredients

Toor dal
Shallots 1 cup
Oil 2 tbsp.
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves 3 sprigs
Onion 1 small
Green chillies 3-4
Ginger garlic paste 2 tsp
Hing 2 big pinches
Turmeric powder 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Tamarind small lemon size
Sambar powder 2 tsp
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Jaggery 2 tsp
Coriander leaves 3 sprigs finely chopped

Method

1. Cook toor dal until soft and mash it well. Keep aside.
2. Peel the shallots and keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard, cumin and fenugreek seeds.
4. When they splutter, add curry leaves. Fry until the sizzling sound stops.
5. Add sliced onion and slit green chillies and fry for 2 minutes.
6. Add ginger-garlic paste and hing fry for another 2 minutes.
7. Add shallots and turmeric powder and mix it well.
8. Add salt and cover with a lid. Keep tossing in between so that they do not get burnt at the bottom of the pan.
9. Fry until the shallots turn golben brown in colour. Add enough water to cover the shallots.
10. Cover with a lid and cook until it comes to a boil.
11. Now add tamarind juice and bring it to a boil.
12. Add the mashed toor dal and mix.
13. Add sambar powder, chilli powder and jaggery.
14. Add finely chopped coriander leaves and cook until it comes to a vigorous boil.
15. Switch off the flame and serve with rice or idly or dosa or upma.

Notes

• Dry red chilli can be used. I could not add, as I was running out of stock.
• This is a bit spicy, so do check before you add the chilli powder. Else you can reduce the number of green chillies by 1 or 2.
• Goes well when paired up with hot steamed rice and ghee.