Today is World Pulses day. This day is celebrated to recognize the importance of pulses (dry beans, lentils, chickpeas, peas) as a global food. Did you know pulses contain high amounts of protein, fiber, iron, zinc, phosphorous, folate and B-vitamins! Pulses are nutritious, delicious and sustainable.
Today I'am going to post "Sambar", a wonderful delicacy of South India that is made out of toor dal (lentil). Well, Sambar is a lentil based vegetable stew cooked with dal and tamarind pulp. It is a very healthy food. The reason is very simple.
👉 It is made with vegetables and veggies are packed with vitamins and antioxidants.
👉 It is made with dal (lentil) which is protein rich.
You can make sambar with any vegetables of your choice. Today I have used yellow pumpkin and ladies finger. Yellow pumpkin is highly nutritious and rich in Vitamin A. And ladies finger is good for eyes and also promotes heart health.
Let's get on to the recipe.
Ingredients:
Yellow Pumpkin 1 cup
Ladies Finger 4 or 5
Tur Dal 1/2 cup
Tamarind pulp lemon sized
Sambar Powder 1 tsp
Asafoetida a pinch
Turmeric powder 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds 1 tsp
Fenugreek Seeds 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Curry leaves few
Method:
1. Pressure Cook tur dal for 4 whistles.
2. Cook yellow pumpkin until soft.
3. Saute ladies finger in little oil and keep it aside.
4. Soak tamarind in hot water for 15 minutes. Extract the tamarind pulp and keep it aside.
5. Add sambar powder, turmeric powder, asafoetida to a vessel.
6. Heat oil in a pan. Once hot, add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and allow them to splutter.
7. Pour this over the sambar powder placed in the vessel.
8. Add the extracted tamarind pulp, boiled yellow pumpkin, sauted ladies finger and salt to the above. Allow it to boil until the raw smell of the tamarind goes away.
9. Next add the cooked tur dal. Allow it to boil for 5 minutes in medium flame.
10. Switch off the flame.
11. Garnish with coriander leaves / curry leaves.