Sambhar Powder Recipe

Sambhar is a staple side dish in south India. It is one of the lip-smacking recipes. The vegetable stew or curry is made with vegetable broth, pigeon peas, lentils and vegetables. It is then flavoured with Indian spices and tamarind.

There are many methods to prepare sambhar. You can either make it very spicy or keep it simple. However, the more spices used to prepare sambhar, the more delicious the southern side dish would be. As sambhar is prepared on a regular basis, making sambhar masala or powder is time consuming. So, to make a delicious and lip-smacking sambhar, here is the powder recipe that can help you prepare a spicy and thick sambhar.

Sambhar powder recipe:

Serves: 1 small jar
Preparation time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• Coriander seeds/dhania dana- ½ cup
• Cumin seeds- 1 cup
• Dry red chillies- 15-20
• Fenugreek seeds/meethi dana- 1tsp
• White lentils/Urad dal- 2½ tsp
• Bengal gram dal/channa dal- 2tbsp
• Curry leaves- 8-10
• Cinnamon- 1 inch
• Oil- 1tsp

Procedure

• Heat a frying pan. Roast the cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, white lentils, Bengal gram dal together for few minutes. When you start getting the aroma, put the pan off flame.
• Take out the roasted seeds and keep on a plate. Let it cool.
• Now heat the same frying pan and add oil. Cook dry red chillies with curry leaves on a low flame for 1-2 minutes. Once done, add it to the same plate of roasted seeds. Spread out the contents of the plate and let it cool.
• When the roasted seeds and dry red chillies cool, grind them together till it becomes a soft powder.
• Take out the ground sambhar powder and let it cool. Once done, you can store it in an air-tight container and use for more than 3 weeks.

This sambhar powder helps get a strong aroma of spices. It is because they are roasted.