This is inspired by the sambar rice that is served in some of the restaurants in South India. But this is my no means the recipe used by restaurants. I wanted to actually make a sambar and rice, but then thought of making a one pot dish. Instead of toor dal which is normally used for sambars, I used masoor dal. Unlike the version available in restaurants, which is kind of semi-solid, I made it more like a pulav. I also used my favorite green, spinach, to make it fiber rich. Served it with a dollop of ghee. It was a hearty meal. Add more water to make it semi-solid.
Ingredients: 1 and 1/2 cups basmati rice 1/2 cup masoor dal 3 tea spns sambar powder 1 tea spn red chilli powder A pinch asafoetida A pinch turmeric 1 tea spn mustard seeds 4-5 curry leaves 1/2 tea spn tamarind extract 1/2 cup onion 1/2 cup tomato 1 cup spinach (optional) 2 cups vegetables – cauliflower, yellow bellpepper(capsicum), carrot, potato Oil Salt
Method: Wash together rice and dal. Keep aside. Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add curry leaves, asafoetida. Add onion and fry for a few minutes. Add all the vegetables, spinach(optional) and tomato. Fry for a min. Add rice and dal, turmeric, salt, red chilli powder, sambar powder, tamarind, salt. Mix everything. Pour in 5 cups of water and let it cook on medium heat. If required, add more water. When most of heat is absorbed, reduce the heat to low and let it cook for about 10mins. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot topped with a dollop of ghee.
Serves : 4-5 Preparation time : 45mins
Pictorial:
Every Indian cuisine has a recipe for simple dal. The Konkani version is called Dalithoy. This must be the simplest possible recipe and the one learned by all newbie cooks. There are few versions of this comfort food, based on the region, people use different tampering/ingredients in dal and call it “authentic dalithoy”. At our place, the common dalithoy – which is also a part of almost all festivals and temple meals – is this one . I won’t be exaggerating if I say this is cooked atleast once a week at our home. A slight variation to this is the one with garlic(losney) seasoning. A simple dal cooked with green chillies and then seasoned with garlic. It is a garlic lover’s heaven.
Ingredients: 1 cup toor dal 1 tbl spn chopped garlic A pinch turmeric 4-5 green chillies 1 red chilli Ghee Salt
Method: Cook dal with green chillies and turmeric in pressure cooker till it is mushy. By the back of the spoon, mash it. Heat it with salt and enough water to bring to required consistency. Heat ghee and add garlic, red chilli cut into pieces. Fry till garlic turns slightly brownish. Pour this over dal. Serve hot with rice and a spicy side dish/pickles.
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time : 20mins
