Welcome aboard!

Indian cuisine is a riot of colours, flavours, and spices. Every state has its own unique culture- ingrained taste bud. And, to many of us staying within familiar tastes is a sacrosanct act. Of course an occasional trip to a speciality restaurant that serves another fare is ok. But, as a matter of routine ...at home...NO!

One of the benefits of being born to parents who dared an interstate marriage (am talking about India of the 70's) was being able to widen a regional taste bud to accept, experiment and, relish eclectic cuisines :-)

I love food! Be it traditional or fusion, cooking is all about turning out fare that is tasty and healthy.I welcome all lovers of good food to come on aboard and share your kitchen adventures.

If you like what you see, do leave a comment. If you don't, please leave a suggestion to help me make this better.

You can also request for any recipe you want. Just leave a note in a comment box.

Happy cooking!

Dershana

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Sambhar Sadam - wholesome, one pot meal

Sambhar sadam, as it is called in Tamil Nadu, and the Bisi Bele Bhaath of Karnataka are close if not identical kins. At least, that's how I've felt. My paati (maternal grandmother) was a stupendous cook and her Sambhar Sadam was something to die for. My version of it is created from what I remember of her's with some minor tweaks to include the mild masala taste of the Karnataka version.I make this quite often but missed posting it here. Yesterday, my food blogger friend, Lubna, started a discussion on favourite 'one pot meals' and I ended up promising to post my favourite one pot delight,sambhar sadam,recipe for her. So, here goes...



Raw rice - 1/2 cup
Toor dhal (sambhar parippu)- 1/2 cup
Small onions - 7-8 Nos
Assorted veggies - 1 cup (I used potato,carrot,and small violet brinjals)
Tomato - 1 medium
Garlic - 2 cloves
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Curry leaves - 3-4 sprigs
Coriander leaves/cilantro - a small bunch
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 2 teaspoons
Chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Cloves - 2 Nos
Cardamom - 2 Nos
Fennel (saunf) - 1/4 teaspoon
Asafoetida - a few pinches
Tamarind extract - 1 tablespoon (or 1 large lemon sized tamarind ball soaked in warm water and juice extracted)
Water - 3 1/2 cups
Salt to taste

For tempering

Peanuts (with skin) - a liberal handful
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Cumin (Jeera) - 1/2 teaspoon
Dry red chillies - 1-2 Nos
Cooking oil - 1 tablespoon ( I use gingelly/sesame oil)



Put all ingredients, apart from the tamarind extract, cilantro and salt, into a pressure cooker and cook for 6 whistles (two on high flame and three on low). Once the pressure settles, add the tamarind extract, chopped cilantro, and salt. Mix well and simmer for a couple of minutes. Heat a pan and add oil. Roast the peanuts till golden, remove and add to rice. Place the rest of the ingredients for tempering into the same oil and saute till jeera crackles. Add to rice. Serve piping hot with papadoms, bujia, om podi, or appalams.

 
Blog Blog