Sambar Powder

Being an Indian with typical taste bud can be sometimes labelled as 'PICKY OR CHOOSY' as we are so much accustomed to traditional way of preparing some of the Indian cuisines. It is always handed down from one generation to another. Growing up tasting mother's cooking that is always prepared with much love and care. She didn't mind choosing the best quality ingredients, hygienically preparing spice powder knowing that she would always use that in making sambar that compliments rice or chapati. The smell and aroma of Indian dishes are uplifted by the homemade spice powder, as this one has to be the best in my opinion. Do give a try, and let your sambar recipe be the number one too :)

  

Sambar Powder

INGREDIENTS:

Dry red chilies - 2 cups

Coriander seeds - 1 1/2 cups

Cumin - 2 tablespoons

Black peppercorns - 2 tablespoons

Fenugreek - 2 teaspoons

Toor dal - 3 tablespoons

Channa dal - 3 tablespoons

Urad dal - 3 tablespoons

Asafoetida - 1 teaspoon

METHOD :

1. Dry roast coriander seeds, black peppercorns, fenugreek, cumin seeds individually one by one until they release the spice aroma and hot to touch.  

2. Fenugreek has to be dry roasted till it change deep brown color. That gives nice aroma.

3. Dry red chilies has to be sun dried because they tend to get burned when fried in a pan. So, we want to retain the red color of the chilies, but allow them to crisp up so that the spice powder will have longer shelf life.

4. Next, dry roast all the dal varieties until golden brown.

6. Add asafoetida, all the roasted spices into a blender and grind well. Make sure the powder is fine. Let the powder cool before storing.

7. I would only grind small batches of spice powder because it will be still fresh and flavorful. 

7. Store in an air tight container and later refrigerate. 

6. We can use homemade sambar powder to make different varieties of sambar that go well with piping hot rice.

Thank you

Abby