Every Southindian household prepares sambar in their own way. There are many sambar varieties available but raw mango sambar is our family favorite. When the raw mango in season, my husband never forgets to buy raw mango for making this sambar.
My MIL is expert in making perfect raw mango sambar. She adjusts the tomato and tamarind correctly according to the sourness of the mango. if you are making this sambar, make sure to taste the raw mango first and based on the sourness, adjust the tomato and tamarind quantity.
Another important ingredient in this recipe is sambar masala. My house prepares sambar masala this way. You can also use store bought plain sambar masala. it works well too.
Choose firm raw mango and do not peel the skin. Chop it into 3 inch pieces so that it retains it’s shape while cooking. otherwise the flesh becomes mushy and mixed with toor dal while cooking it.
When the mango flesh cooked well, immediately add toor dal and water to boil it. I have added medium sized 5 sliced shallots or small onions or sambar onion as it is called here in local. If you do not have it, add big onion.
Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
½ cup toor dal
1 tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
10 curry leaves
1 green chilli, slit
5 to 7 small onion, sliced
½ cup tomato
½ Mango, approx. 1 cup cubed
2 tsp sambar masala
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 cup tamarind water(1 marble size tamarind soaked in a cup of warm water)
2 to 2 and 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp coriander leaves
A big pinch asafoetida
Video Recipe:
Method with stepwise pictures:
1) Soak toor dal for 30 minutes. after 30 minutes, add a cup of water and pressure cook it for 3 whistles or until it is mushy.
2) Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. I took half raw mango which is very sour. So I took only 1/2 cup of chopped tomato and a marble size tamarind. based on the sourness of the raw mango, increase or decrease the tomato and tamarind quantity.
3) Soak the tamarind in a cup of warm water.
4) In a kadai, add oil. throw mustard seeds, fenugreek, curry leaves and slit greenchilli. Add 5 to 7 shallots or small onion which are sliced. If the onion is small, then add it as such without slicing.
5) Saute the onion till it is soft.
6) Add tomato and stir till it is soft and mushy.
7) Add half medium size raw mango which came approximately 1 cup when chopped. Chop the mango into 3 inch pieces and add it to the pan.
8) Add 2 tsp sambar masala, turmeric powder and a cup of tamarind water.
9) Mix well and let it boil and wait till the mango pieces become soft and transparent.
10) Once the mango is cooked, add the mashed toor dal. Rinse the pressure cooker using a cup of water and add it to the pan. Adjust this water according to the consistency you need. so start with half cup of water and increase the water quantity if needed.
11) Mix gently and allow this to boil. when it starts to boil, add salt, chopped coriander leaves and a big pinch of asafoetida. adding coriander leaves is optional.
12) Mix gently. When the sambar is boiling well, turn off the flame and serve hot with steamed rice.
Serving Suggestions:
1) Sambar is a southindian gravy which is served with rice or cooked millets or any southindian tiffins like idly, dosa and vada.
2) For morning breakfast, it is served with idly, dosa, pongal and vada.
3) For lunch, it is served with rice and any dry curries.
Notes:
1) Adjust the tamarind and tomato quantity according to the sourness of the mango.
2) I have added 2 cups of water(1 cup for tamarind and 1 cup plain water ) to this sambar. Water used for cooking toor dal is separate. Please adjust it based on the thickness or consistency you need for your sambar. It sometimes depends on the toor dal quality you use.
3) The sambar tastes good when served immediately. if you are making it in the morning, then the sourness of sambar increases during afternoon time. so, add tomato and tamarind accordingly. I generally add half of the tamarind i usually add for the sambar.
4) If the sambar is already in correct sourness when you cook it, then remove the mango pieces from sambar and set aside till you serve. This way we can avoid the excess sourness in the sambar while serving.
