Vendhaya Keerai Sambar | Methi Sambar
Fresh methi sambar or vendhaya keerai sambar – a healthy and delicious sambar recipe with the goodness of fresh fenugreek leaves! Check out how to make this methi sambar, a perfect rice accompaniment with detailed step-wise pictures.
Servings: 6
Calories: 89kcal
Ingredients
Measurement Details: 1 cup = 240ml; 1 tbsp = 15ml; 1tsp = 5ml;
To pressure cook
- ¼ cup toor dal
- ⅛ tsp turmeric powder
- 2 drops of oil
- 1 cup water
To temper
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- ⅛ tsp asafoetida
- 1 dried red chili broken into two pieces
Other ingredients
- 5 shallots peeled and chopped into halves
- 1 tomato chopped (approx 1 cup)
- 2 cups fresh fenugreek leaves 1 bunch, stems removed and roughly chopped
- 2 tsp tamarind paste diluted in 1 cup of water
- 1 tbsp sambar powder diluted in ¼ cup of water
- 1.5 tsps salt or to taste
- 1 tsp rice flour
- 2.25 cups water divided
Instructions
Pressure cook the dal
- Pressure cook the toor dal by adding turmeric powder, and few drops of oil, and 1 cup of water for 4 to whistles.
- Let the pressure subside and if you are using rice flour, add it to the dal and mix and mash it nicely.
Prepare the sambar
- Heat a kadai or saucepan and add oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, red chili, and asafoetida. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the shallots and saute until it turns translucent.
- Then add the chopped tomatoes and fenugreek leaves. Add salt as well and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat. The greens will ooze out water, and it's fine.
- Add the tamarind water and sambar powder mixed in ¼ cup of water. Simmer it for 8 to 10 minutes until the raw smell goes off.
- Finally, add the toor dal mix and jaggery. Mix well and simmer for about 5 minutes and turn off the heat. And that's it. Yummy methi sambar is ready. Enjoy it with rice.
Notes
- Adjust the tamarind quantity according to the tanginess of the tomatoes.
- Tomatoes are entirely optional. You can skip them as well.
- Instead of shallots, you can use regular onions.
- Adjust the salt and spices as per your preference.
- If you are getting started with fenugreek leaves and worried about the bitterness, reduce the measure to one cup or soak it in hot water for 30 minutes and discard the water. This soaking process helps to reduce the bitterness of the fenugreek leaves.
- Adding a small amount of jaggery helps to balance the flavors. Even though it's an optional ingredient, I highly recommend it.
- Rice flour is optional. As I mentioned before, it helps to thicken the sambar. If you add more dal than the below-mentioned measure, you can skip the rice flour.
- Mixing the sambar powder in water and adding it to the sambar prevent lumps.
Nutrition
Calories: 89kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 592mg | Potassium: 166mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 210IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 332mg | Iron: 2mg