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Originally uploaded by shivku.

Here is my (actually, my Mom’s) recipe for sambhar. Disclaimer: I am disclosing this recipe under GNU public license . Dont come back to me if it sucked.

Sambhar, as it is called in south india, is a fluid preparation meant to be mixed up with cooked rice and had when it is hot with a side dish ( More on side dishes later).
Without any further delay, Here are the ingredients:

You would need :

1. Tamirind or Tamirind paste (Go to an indian shop close by and ask them.)
2. Toor Dhal about 100 gms.
3. Sambhar powder. There are whole lotta people ( Including my mom) out there who make sambhar powder. Your indian shop should have it too.
4. Turmeric powder.
5. Vegetables( My preparation had about a quarter kilo of Raddish , cut circularly and a coupla onions cut into four pieces ).
6. Coriander and curry leaves
   

Note that the algorithm will refer to the ingredients with their serial number. The quantities here will probably make sambhar enough for about 4 to 5 people (depending on how big mouths they have, ofcourse)
And the algo is:

Cook 2 with enough water to soak all the grams comfortably , in a pressure cooker or a closed pan. ( I would think , for a cup of dhal , you would need two cups of water). Take 1 of the size of a lemon and put it in a cup with some water so that you extract the juice out of it. ( Or you could use the paste too). Extraction will probably take about 10 mins. So keep that aside. In the meantime, cut your 5 and keep them ready.

Once you think that 1 has shed all its juice into the water, put it in a vessel along with the cut 5, about quater tea-spoon of 4 and three spoons of 3. Add about 200 ml of water and Hang on ( It is very important that you hang enough) until the vegetables inside have been cooked. ( Tip: pick one of them out and try to smash/cut with a spoon. (duh!) ).

Assuming that 5 in your sambhar is cooked, add the dhal (that you had kept aside – didnt you? – ) , add coriander and curry leaves for aroma , salt to taste. Be patient for another 5 mins so that all the stuff in there syncs up. And thatz it. Go ahead and have a good sambhar rice.

You may also want to add a bit of seasoning to your preparation. ( Thanks to the anonymous shipra for reminding me of this ). Put a bit of oil ( coconut oil if you want to induce an authentic kerala taste ) on a ladel , add mung dhal (uluttam paruppu in tamil ) or Masoor dal and mustard. Wait for the mustards to dance a bit and for the dhal to get roasted golden. Now add the entire content to your preparation. Will taste even better.

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