(1)    Take a 3 litres cooker.

•  Put the soaked toor dal (200 gram) into it.
•  Pour 600 ml of water.
•  Turmeric powder – 1/4 tablespoon
•  Salt – 1/4 tablespoon
•  Oil – 2 tablespoons (don’t use Olive oil)

(2)   Place the cooker on the small burner – turn the flame to LOW mode. We can wait till 3 whistles blow. In those 3 whistles, toor dal will get completely cooked.

(3)   Place a pan on the big burner – keep the flame in MEDIUM mode. Put the below into it and fry –

•  Bengal dal – 1 tablespoon
•  Black gram – 1 tablespoon
•  Coriander – 1 tablespoon
•  Cumin – 1/4 tablespoon
•  Fennel seeds – 1/2 tablespoon

Stir for 20 to 30 seconds. Then add –

•  Red chillies – 4
•  Curry leaves – 10

Stir for some more time till all get fried to give a golden brown colour. Turn off the flame then.

(4)   Put the fried items into a mixer jar – grind them to a fine powder. Keep them in a dry bowl.

(5)   Place a 3-litre vessel on the big burner – turn on the flame to LOW mode.

(6)   Put the below into the vessel –

• Small onion – 150 grams
• Oil – 100 grams

Stir continuously till the onions turn to a glossy look (don’t fry till they turn brown). Then add the below-

• Coriander leaves – few
• Green chilli – 2
• Garlic – 4 cloves (grind a little and then add)
• Tomatoes – 2 (medium sized) – cut and add

Stir for 1 minute till tomatoes cook a little.

(7)   Now, add ‘Bangalore brinjal’ – 2 (cut into small pieces) (we call it “chow chow” in Tamil). Stir for 30 seconds. Then add the below –

• Turmeric powder – 1/4 tablespoon
• Salt – 1/2 tablespoon
• Red chilli powder – 1/4 tablespoon
• Water – 500 ml

Stir well for 10 seconds.

(8)   Turn the flame to HIGH mode now. Close the vessel with a lid.

Let the water get to boiling state in high flame for 2 or 3 minutes (till steam comes out of the lid’s sides). Then, turn the flame to LOW mode. Let the contents get cooked in low flame for 20 minutes.

(at the completion of first 10 minutes – remove the lid – stir a little for 5 seconds – then close the lid).

(9)   After 20 minutes of cooking, remove the lid. Now, pour the toor dal (that got cooked in a cooker) into the vessel with vegetables.

(10)   Pour the water alone from the bowl with tamarind. This will give the required sourness to our sambar. Stir and mix well. Let the flame be in LOW mode.

(11)   Place a pan on the small burner – Turn the flame to low mode – then add the below –

•  Oil – 3 tablespoons
•  Red chilli – 4
•  Curry leaves – 20 leaf
•  Garlic – 4 cloves
•  Mustard – 1/2 tablespoon

Stir and fry the contents for 30 seconds. Then turn off the flame

(12)   Put the powdered masala mix that we have prepared in ‘step -3’ into the sambar. Stir well for 20 seconds – then add the items that we fried in a pan (in step 11) to the sambar.

Stir well – at the end, garnish with a few of coriander leaves.

Thus, our sambar is ready to be served along with rice, dosa or idly.