Pongal & Sambar

Tamil Recipes Pongal

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Rice (Boiled or raw rice) 2 cups
Moong Dal 1 and 1/2 cup
Ghee 2 tsp
Cumin seed 1/2 tsp
Whole black pepper 10
Salt and pepper to taste

tamil samayal recipes pongal

tamil recipes pongal


tamil samayal sambar

tamil samayal sambar

1 Clean and wash thoroughly the rice and dal.
2 In a deep pan, boil them together in ¼ liter of water.
3 When rice and dal are cooked, keep them aside. In a separate shallow pan, heat the ghee and stir-fry cumin seeds and cashew nuts slightly and separately.
4 Add it to the rice and dal.
5 Add salt and pepper and serve hot
6 Most common side dishes are the traditional coconut chutney and sambar.

Tamil Recipes Sambar

(Serves 4)
Onion sambar is essentially a broth made with toor dal, and is very popular in the cooking of southern regions of India. Cook toor dal until they are crumbling. Add to the dal a mixture of ground spices (roasted coriander seeds, chilies, lentils, tamarind, and salt).

Sambar onions are small and purple in color in India. Pearl onions or shallots in America) are the best for this sambar. They are a little more pungent but in a good way and carry a flavor different from the big onions. The shallots you get in America are a bit bigger than the Indian ones; you may have to chop it smaller.


Toor Dal 1 cup
Small onions (whole) or pearl 15 medium sizes
Water 2 cups
Green chilies 4 medium size
Red chilies 2 medium size
Turmeric 1/2 tbsp
Tomatoes 1 medium size
Chili powder 1/2 tbsp
Tamarind paste 1/2 tsp
Sambar powder 1/2 tsp
Asafetida 1/4 tsp
Garlic two pods
Urad dal 1/2 tsp
Mustard seed 1/2 tsp
Oil 1 tbsp
Cilantro 1/4 bunch
Salt to taste


1 In pressure cooker add the dal, turmeric, asafetida, water, and garlic and close it with the weight on
2 Once the high steam comes turn to low heat and let it cook for 10 minutes
3 Then add the small onions (do not chop them), tomatoes, green chilies, chilies powder, and salt and some extra water for the vegetables to cook
4 Once the mustard seeds pop remove the pan pour the seasoned ingredients into the cooker that is boiling
5 Add the tamarind paste and Sambar powder and boil for exactly a second. Remove and garnish it with the chopped cilantro. Serve with white rice, pongal, idli or dosa

You can also add vegetables and spices such as turmeric and chili powder. Heat the dal and vegetable stew until the vegetables cook. You can add a wide variety of vegetables to sambar. You can add okra, drumstick, carrot, radish, pumpkin, tomatoes, and whole or halved shallots or onions, and many different vegetables. Typically, sambar will contain one or several seasonal vegetables as the main vegetables in the soup.

The cooked sambar is typically finished with an oil-fried spice mixture containing items such mustard seeds, urad dal, dried red chilies, curry leaves, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, and asafoetida. Add fresh curry leaves or coriander leaves at the very end to enhance the flavor. Curry leaves in particular are an essential element of authentic sambar; their aroma and flavor provide sambar with a distinct and pleasant herbal essence.