Hotel Sambhar

I make sambhar in many different ways. Depends on my mood if I want to freshly grind the spices or if I want to add coconut or if I want to add many different vegetables or just one. As I was on a roll making idlis,  I decided to make hotel sambhar to go with it. The slurpy bowl of goodness served with dosa and idly in hotels! Makes you want to dunk and dunk the idly and also drink up the bowl in the end. I am talking about hotels back in Chennai, definitely not in the US (on a vain note, I think I can make better sambhar that what I get here, don't you too?!).

I have been trying to find the secret ingredient that gives the hotel sambhar a taste above the home made ones (I love the homemade sambhar but once in a while need the 'hotelness' in it....). ''That's because it has sweat  in it' (yuck!), my mom used to dryly remark to us kids when we used to pester her to make sambhar like the hotel . Maybe more oil? Different vegetables? My theory is that the sambhar sits on the stove almost all day long that it gives it a different flavor. So I adapted this recipe from Beyond the Usual to make hotel sambar. This was one of the very few recipes I found that was a little different when I was looking for hotel sambhar.  I let the sambhar slow cook to infuse all the flavors. Here's what I exactly did:

• I pressure cooked 1 cup toor dal with a pinch of turmeric and asfoetida.
• Meanwhile I chopped 1 onion into fine pieces. I diced 1 carrot and 1 capsicum. You could use more veggies if you like. Almost anything goes in a sambhar, especially squash, pumpkin, potatoes and cauliflower. For idlis and dosas I prefer not to have too many veggies. When I making sambhar for rice then I add everything in. I also make that a different way which would be another post.
• I set 5 cups of water on low heat. I added 2 tbsp of thick  tamarind pulp. I soaked dry tamarind in hot water for 10 minutes to make the pulp. Store bought tubs work too. If using store bought, use only 1 tbsp.
• I added the onions and veggies to the tamarind water. I boiled for approx 10 - 15 mins (remember I am cooking on low heat so longer time to cook) or till the raw smell of the tamarind disappears.
• Now I added 2 tbsp of sambhar powder. 
• Optional : grind 5 garlic pods, one tiny piece of ginger, 2 tsp dhania (coriander seeds) and 2 tsp jeera (cumin seeds). Add to the boiling sambhar.
• Then I added the tur dal. I let boil for another 10 - 15 mins. 
• For tempering: In another pan, heat 1 tbsp oil. Add mustard seeds. Wait till mustard seeds splutter. Now add curry leaves. Mix with the sambhar.

 My verdict: This sambhar was more close to  hotel sambhar than any other sambhars I have made so far. What is different with this recipe than other sambhar recipes is that you do not the fy the vegetables first but just boil everything. I made mine slow cook. You could speed up the process by using a pressure cooker or increasing the heat. But it still lacks the za-za-zu of the mystical hotel sambhar. Any other ideas?

Now I am off to Nupur's to join her Blog bites: Copycat edition. See you there!