Sambar with palak

Sambar-with-a-twist

Its been a peaceful Saturday. The first in a long while. And I spent the morning tending to all the things I have ignored all week long. The mound of clothes piling up on the bedroom chair, the overflowing laundry basket, the dusty corners of my kitchen, the cobwebs in the balcony, the dining table strewn with random objects (that dont belong there!), and the list is endless. So the day passed by rather quickly, involving such things as changing pillow covers and sheets, taking things down from the kitchen shelf and dusting the area and neatly replacing the boxes, making the dining table sparse like it should be, doing a giant batch of laundry, putting away clothes. And the best part -- Im not complaining :)

Some days are just meant for all things homely. And today was one such. I also had in my fridge what was an utterly green and fresh bunch of palak. It was utterly green and fresh day before yesterday when I bought it, but having soaked a cupful of channa that couldnt be wasted yesterday I had to put off using the palak until today. So while the bunch had lost its really verdant color and crunch, I knew it had to be used now or never.

And what better way to make the Saturday more homely, than with some good ol sambar rice? Except this sambar is a combination of the versions I have heard and read about. So without really following a recipe, I tend to go with the flow and do things as I feel. Like in this instance, throwing in some palak into my pot of sambar.

What you need (for 2 people, 1 small cup of dal):
2 cloves of garlic
1 medium onion
1 medium tomato
1 handful french beans
1 medium carrot
1 small bunch palak
1 green chilli
2 tablespoons sambar powder
2 teaspoons tamarind paste
Mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves for the tadka

What you need to do:
Chop up all your vegetables. The carrots, tomato and beans roughly, but the onion and garlic chopped fine.

In a pan, heat some oil. Throw in the garlic and onion. Saute well till the onions are translucent. Next, throw in the chopped beans and carrots. Saute till lightly cooked.

In a pressure cooker, add the washed dal and adequate water. To it, add the sauteed vegetables.

Next, chop the palak roughly and add it in.

Add the sambar powder, a pinch of asafoetida and salt to taste. Add some more water if required and cook for about 3-4 whistles.

When cooked and the pressure has released, open, add water if required and give it a good stir. Simmer the sambar for 4-5 minutes. Add in some tamarind paste and bring to a boil.

In a small pan, heat up some ghee, when its hot, add in the mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves. Add in the sputtering mixture to the sambar.

Done!

The best thing about sambar is that you can virtually throw in every vegetable, and follow a sequence of rather simple, almost robotic steps and you just cant go wrong. I hope this is as much of a reminder of the warmth of your home, as it was for me.

BisiBeleBhaath

..OR, what to do on your last week of freedom

With one week of extended freedom before I step back into the world of having a regular job, I find myself with a lot of empty time that I hadnt planned for. Im all about planning what I want to do, even if it is to laze around all day. In a happy coincidence, I also had this really strong longing to have my cooks (back home) BisiBeleBhaath. Because the way she makes it, is to die for. It is comforting, homely, satisfying and altogether scrumptious.

There are some tastes that are just meant to be reminders of home. Comfort food, home food, call it what you want. These are things one tends to enjoy best at home and no substitute can come close. BisiBeleBhaath (BBB, as I call it) is one such home delicacy for me. Since Iv moved out, every trip back home features one BBB meal, and truly completes my going-home-experience. Without it, something is amiss.

Despite the massive cravings and pangs for BBB I have had since I moved to Goa, I still hadnt mustered the courage to try my hand at making BBB on my own. However, there is always a first time, and it seems that time for me, was today.

What you need
For the masala:
1 tbsp poppy seeds (khus-khus)
1" piece of cinnamon
2-3 cloves
3-4 tbsp dry coconut (if you dont have dry coconut, you could dry roast freshly grated coconut, like I did)
2 tbsp sambar powder (I get this home-made from my cook back home, so I dont really know what secret ingredients she puts in it, unfortunately)

For the main dish (to feed 2 hungry people):
2-3 cups chopped vegetables of your choice. I used carrots, potatoes and peas because thats all I had handy. But you can even add cauliflower, french beans, double beans, or even sambar onions or small brinjals.
1 cup toor dal
1 cup rice
2 small tomatoes chopped
1 small onion chopped (I took the liberty to add this in, inspired from an online recipe of BBB that I was looking at yesterday)
1-2 tbsp tamarind paste
2 sprigs curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 dry red chillies roughly chopped

What you need to do
First, dry roast the poppy seeds, cloves and cinnamon on a low flame. Keep this going till the poppy seeds turn nice and brown.



Next, dry roast the fresh coconut till it has lost all its moisture and begins to show some brown specks. If youre using dried coconut to begin with, you can skip right to the next step.




Grind together the sambar powder, poppy seeds, cinnamon and cloves, along with the coconut. This should give you a deep brown, rich and flavourful dry masala.



Meanwhile, par boil the chopped veggies. Start to cook the dal and rice (mixed together) on a low flame.






In a deep bottomed pan/pot, generously add some ghee. When its hot, throw in the mustard seeds, curry leaves, onions and roughly chopped red chillies.




When the mustard seeds stop sputtering, add the onions and saute till slightly translucent. Next, add the dry masala and roast well. Continue to saute this on a low flame till the masala is cooked. Note that this is all done without adding any water.



Next, throw in the chopped tomatoes, add the tamarind paste and a cup of water. Continue to cook the masala.




By now, the dal and rice should be more than half cooked. Tip it into the masala, mix well and continue to simmer on a low flame.



The best BBB is usually mixed so well that the masala, rice and dal are well combined into one giant pot of flavourful splendour. So continue to simmer and add water when necessary, until you get that rich silky looking BBB.

At the very end, add in the parboiled veggies and add salt to taste. Cook for a few minutes more so that the various components are all well combined.




BBB is best enjoyed with something crunchy. Traditionally it is served topped with khara-boondi, but back home it was tradition to have it with locally made potato chips.



Done!

My first endeavour at making BBB was quite a success, so I can safely say that future BBB-homesickness-pangs will be efficiently dealt with and put to rest.