Beetroot Sambar | Sambar Recipe

             Beetroot Sambhar is a lentil based stew which is so close to my family especially my brother who love this dish a lot. This is my mom’s recipe, during my college days whenever I take this for my lunch, all my friends grab my lunch box and they love to eat this sambhar. This is a nice transition to a regular sambhar. I love the combination of beetroot sambhar with ghee and colocasia fry,  which is totally out of the world. Give it try, you will love this..

   Ingredients

           1 Large Beetroot (Diced)
           1/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp of Toor dal
           1 Chopped Onion (Large)
           1 Chopped Tomato (Large)
           2 Green Chillies
           1/2 Tsp of Cumin (Optional)
           1/2 Tsp of Turmeric Powder
           2 Tbsp of Sambhar Powder
           Pinch of Hing/Asafoetida
           Few Sprig of Cilantro
           Lemon Size tamarind
           Salt to taste

  To Temper
            1 and 1/2 Tbsp of Oil
            1 Red Chilly (Optional)
            1 Tsp of Mustard
            1 Tsp of Urad dal
            Few Curry Leaves
            Pinch of Hing
            1/4 Tsp of Fenugreek

  To Garnish

           Few Sprig of Cilantro
           2 Tbsp of Chopped Tomato

  Method

• Soak toor dal for 1/2 hr, wash in cold water and drain it.
• Wash and soak the tamarind in warm water for 15 mins. Extract juice from tamarind and keep it aside.
• In a pressure cooker, add toor dal, cumin, turmeric powder, hing, 2 drops of oil, salt and water. Cook for 3- 4 whistles. Turn off the stove.

• Heat a pan with 1/2 cup of water, boil beetroot for 5-7 mins until it turns soft. 

• In a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil, to that add red chilly, let it turn to dark brown color, add mustard, urad dal, fenugreek, hing and curry leaves, let it crackles.
• Add chopped onion and salt, fry until it turns golden brown color.
• Add sambhar powder, fry for a min. (Note : Don't burn the sambhar powder)

• Add tomato, green chillly and little water, fry for 1-2 mins. Add boiled beetroot, saute well for a min.
• Add cooked toor dal, coriander stems and tamarind water, let it boil for 5 - 7 mins. Check the salt.
• Finally garnish it with cilantro and fresh chopped tomatoes and ghee (opt). Mix well.
• Yummy Beetroot sambhar is ready to serve.

 Tips

• Sambhar goes well with potato fry or colocasia fry or any vegetable fry.
• You can use 2 Tsp of coriander powder, 1 tsp of red chilly powder and 1/2 tsp of  turmeric powder instead of 1 tbsp of sambhar powder.

  Health Benefits of Beetroot

• Betacyanin, is the pigment which gives beets red color, this pigment is responsible to fight aganist cancer.
• Rich in vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and folic acid.
• They are zero trans-fat and zero-saturated fat.