A must with every meal in South India – breakfast, lunch and dinner – this is a  lentil delicacy. Smabhar can be made with okra, aubergines, radish, squash, pumpkin or any other vegetable.  The most popular vegetable, however, is drumstick.

Ingredients

1 cup toor dal

500 gms. Mixed vegetables

1 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. red chilli powder

4 green chillies

1 cup onions

1 ½ cups tomatoes

1 tsp. oil

2 ½ tsp. tamarind pulp

1 tbsp. jiggery

5 tbsp. coconut paste

Tempering

2 tbsp. oil

1 tsp. mustard seeds

2 tsp. cumin seeds

1 tsp. coriander seeds

1 tsp. sesame seeds

1 tbsp. urad dal

15 curry leaves

Pick and wash the toor dal and soak in water for 30 minutes.  Peel, wash and cut the vegetables in small pieces. Wash and chop chillies, slice onions and wash and cut tomatoes into quarters.  Clean and chop coriander. Dissolve the tamarind in 2 tbsp. water.  Pound and soak jaggery in  2 tbsp. water.  Wash urad dal and curry leaves.

Put drained lentil in a vessel, add 4 cups of water, vegetables, turmeric, red chilles, green chillies, onions, tomatoes and salt, boil until the dal is cooked.  Stir in oil.  Remove.

To prepare the tempering, heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, sesame seeds and urad dal, saute over medium heat till the seed begin to crackle.  Add curry leaves, stir.

Transfer to the cooked dal, add tamarind, simmer for 5 minutes, add jiggery and bring to a boil.  Reduce to low heat, add coconut paste and simmer for 5 minutes.  Sprinkle chopped coriander and stir.  Adjust seasoning.  Serve with dosahttps://cooklikececilia.com/sada-dosa-sambar-chutney/, idli, utthapam, or plain rice.