Kovaikka Sambhar/ Tindora sambhar

I love south Indian cuisine a lot so i try all south indian cuisines at home even my H loves south indian poriyals rasam , sambhar . Sambhar rice is one of our favorite and for today i wanted to share this delicious sambhar which my neighbor used to make often in chennai and i just loved the aroma of it .

This an delicious lentil soup from Tamil nadu with Ivy gourd in it makes it more flavorful and tasty . Any sambhar when made with different veggies in it taste different so i tried my hand with tindora / kovaikkai in tamil . Lets move on to this delicious and our family fav recipe

Ingredients

Toor dal – 1 cup
Kovakkai (tindora/Ivy gourd,cut lengthwise) –
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Coriander/ dhania powder – 1 tbsp
Red chilly powder – 1 tsp
Sambhar pd – 2 tsp (adjust according to your taste)
Cumin seeds – 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds-1/4 tsp
Tomato (medium,chopped) – 1
Dry Red chilli – 2-3 Nos
Shallots- 6
Tamarind – size of a gooseberry (soaked in warm water and squeeze out the tamrind extract)
Curry leaves – 2 sprig
salt to taste
oil – 2 tbsp
Dry red chilly –2 nos
Coriander leaves (chopped ) – For garinsh

Method

Pressure cook dal with turmeric powder and chopped tomatoes.
Once dal is cooked well, open the lid and mash them nicely.
Add some water to the dal about 1/2 cup or so to make them thin and also add tamarind extract and mix them.
In pan heat oil , add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, Dry red chilli, curry leaves after the splutter add shallots and saute till transparent
Then comes Kovaikka/Tindora, add and saute for a while add the red chilli , turmeric , dhania,sambhar pd , salt and mix them well sprinkle some water .
Now add the sauteed veggie to dal and mix them .
Now boil the sambhar in medium heat till kovaikka / tindora gets cooked and are mashable.
Add sufficient amount of water to make the sambhar thiner if you want don’t make it too thin .
Once the Kovaikai are done switch off the flame, Garnish with some chopped coriander leaves and serve this piping hot sambhar with steamed rice and cabbage poriyal .

Sending to Potluck party JCO and Nivedhanam

Tamizhar samayal Tuesday whose brain child is +nalini suresh . Am so happy make this sambhar for first tuesday of this new event where we have to share tamil nadu cuisines every 2nd and 4 th tuesday in a month.