Hotel Tiffin Sambar Recipe | Recipe For Tiffin Sambar | Hotel Style Sambar Recipe | Hotel Idli Sambar – Hotel Tiffin Sambar is a treat to the taste buds & complements many South Indian breakfast/tiffin items like idli, dosa, pongal, vada etc. What makes it different to regular sambar is the method of preparation & use of few secret ingredients.
Have you always wondered how the taste of hotel Sambar is a bit different from the usual sambar which we prepare at home? Have you always thought why your sambar doesn’t get that taste whatever permutations & combinations you experimented? If your answer is YES, then you are at the right place. I saw my friend’s cook make this sambar almost 2 decades back. She told me that she got the recipe from her uncle who has a small road side hotel! Since then, I follow the recipe with slight variations of course to suit our palate. I make some change or the other every time I make this sambar!
What is exactly Hotel Style Tiffin Sambar?
Tiffin sambar is one dish that complements many South Indian breakfast/tiffin items. Dishes like idli, dosa, pongal, vada, Sambar Vada are incomplete without sambar on the side. With few secret ingredients and the method of preparing makes this quite different to our conventional sambar. The flavour, the colour and consistency is very unique for Hotel Sambar. The tiffin sambar differs from our regular sambar in some ways. Mainly we use a combination dals/lentils, a mix of toor dal and moong dal. The tanginess is much less compared to the regular sambar and the consistency is not as thick as the regular sambar too.
Vegetables used in this sambar
I’m very particular especially with this sambar & strictly use only shallots, regular onion, tomato and drumstick in making this sambar. But, you may use any vegetables of your choice. Don’t miss out shallots for best taste & I never miss drumstick in any sambar as it’s my favourite & gives a unique taste to the sambar. Usually the veggies are cooked along with the dal as they should be more mushy. They should just melt in the mouth and should not take away your attention from the main tiffin item. If you would like the veggies to have more bite to it, cook them separately and add it to the dal later. Adding a little Jaggery or sugar to any recipe using tamarind will enhance the taste of the dish.
Sambar powder for this tiffin sambar
I also make Arachuvitta Sambar adding freshly roasted & ground spices. To make my job easier, I started making idli sambar powder in bulk and use it to my need. Again there are many ways to make sambar powder where we usually roast & grind ingredients. But, this is a simplified & quick version of restaurant style idli sambar without any roasting. The powder is added towards the end to the tempering & this works so well giving the sambar an all together different flavour.
The sambar powder used here is freshly ground. You can make a bigger batch and store them in your refrigerator for further use. When refrigerated, the shelf life of the sambar powder increases. You can choose to use the regular sambar powder as well instead of grinding fresh to prepare this sambar. The store-bought sambar powder like the MTR sambar powder also gives a good flavour to the prepared sambar.
Tempering for the tiffin sambar
Usually, for our regular sambar, I temper it at the beginning. However, for the hotel style tiffin sambar, I like to add the tempering at the final stage along with the sambar powder. This is actually a secret behind the unique flavour of sambar. Try this easy version of tiffin sambar and prepare a quick side dish for breakfast.
EASY STEPS TO FOLLOW FOR
HOTEL TIFFIN SAMBAR RECIPE
PREPARING SAMBAR POWDER:
- Take equal quantities of regular dry red chillis & Kashmiri red chillies (10 each). The regular ones give the needed spiciness & the Kashmiri chillies give the needed colour to the sambar powder. To this add 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp pepper & 1 tsp fenugreek seeds.
- Grind them all together to a fine powder. Store it in an air tight container. This quantity is sufficient to make sambar 2 to 3 times depending on your spice levels.
Let’s start making Tiffin Sambar:
- To a pressure cooker add both the dals. Wash well & add 4 to 5 cups water. To this, add drumstick pieces & small onions. Add 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon oil. Cook for 5 whistles or use your usual method to cook the lentils.
- Open the pressure cooker once the pressure subsides. The dal should be well cooked by now. Lightly mash and set aside.
- Soak about a small lemon size tamarind in hoot water and extract about thick tamarind extract and set aside.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a deep pan. Once the oil is hot enough, add in a few curry leaves. Once they splutter, add roughly chopped tomatoes and sauté until the raw smell of tomatoes goes away.
- Now, add tamarind extract and jaggery. Sauté for a minute and add 1 cup of water. Allow this to boil till the raw smell of tamarind and jaggery disappears. This may take around 6 to 8 minutes.
- Now, add the cooked dal mixture and mix everything together. cook for about 2 minutes and then add 3 cups of water. Adjust the consistency to suit your requirement. This sambar should be slightly runny as it will thicken once it cools down due to moong dal.
- Add required salt & turmeric powder. Add 2 slit green chillies, a handful chopped fresh coriander and allow it to boil well (about 10 minutes). TIP: Adding fresh coriander to a dish at different stages gives a nice aroma to any dish.
- Turn off the heat, add finely chopped Coriander and set aside while we prepare the tempering.
For the Tempering:
- Add 2 tbsp Oil to a pan. To this add 1 tsp mustard seeds & let it splutter. Then add a few curry leaves. Now add in cubed onions & 1/2 tsp salt. Sauté for a minute & add in 2 tbsp of sambar powder & 1/2 tsp asafoetida. Mix well & add 1/4 cup water. Let it cook for a minute. Turn off the heat.
Add Tempering to Sambar & Boil:
- Transfer the tempering to the sambar & mix well.
- Now, boil the sambar for about 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat 2 minutes after the sambar comes to rolling boil. Add a tsp of ghee (optional) and cover sambar with a lid and give some standing time before serving. mix well. You will get a nice aroma of tiffin sambar.
Serving Tiffin Sambar:
Serve as a side dish with any of your favourite South Indian Breakfast items like like idli, dosa, pongal, vada, Ghee Roast, Adai, Appam, Masala Dosa, Ragi Idli, uttapam etc. You can also have it with rice & a dollop of Ghee.
If you are looking something light to go just with rice, you must try Pappu Charu, it’s my all time favourite comfort food. This is the typical diluted sambar version we prepare in the Telugu cuisine, which requires no sambar powder at all. Do check out another variation to the recipe HERE. But these are perfect for rice & a potato fry on the side!
Hotel Tiffin Sambar Recipe (Tiffin Sambar) | Hotel Idli Sambar
Ingredients
Tiffin Sambar Powder: Grind below ingredients to a fine powder
- 10 Dry Red Chillies
- 10 Kashmiri Red Chillies
- 1 tbsp Coriander Seeds
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 tsp Black Peppercorns
- 1 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
To Pressure Cook:
- 1/2 Cup Toor Dal
- 1/2 Cup Moong dal
- 5 Cups Water
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder divided
- 1 tsp Oil
- 1 Drumstick Cut into 2” Pieces
- 10 Shallots/Small Onions
To Make Sambar:
- 1 tsp Ghee
- 1 tbsp Oil
- Few Curry Leaves
- 1 Large Tomato Roughly Chopped
- 2 tbsp Thick Tamarind Extract
- 1 tsp Grated Jaggery
- 2 to 3 Cups Water As required for desired consistency
- Handful Fresh Coriander Finely Chopped
To Temper:
- 2 tbsp Oil or Ghee
- 1 tsp Mustard seeds
- Few Curry Leaves
- 1 Large Onion Cubed in quarters
- 2 tbsp Sambar Powder Prepared Powder
- 1/2 tsp Asafoetida
Instructions
PREPARING SAMBAR POWDER:
- Grind all the ingredients under the section "Tiffin Sambar Powder" to a fine powder. Store it in an air tight container.
Let's start making Tiffin Sambar:
- To a pressure cooker add both the dals. Wash well & add 4 to 5 cups water. To this, add drumstick pieces & small onions. Add 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon oil. Cook for 5 whistles or use your usual method to cook the lentils.
- open the pressure cooker once the pressure subsides. The dal should be well cooked by now. Lightly mash and set aside.
- Soak about a small lemon size tamarind in hot water and extract about thick tamarind extract and set aside.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a deep pan. Once the oil is hot enough, add in a few curry leaves. Once they splutter, add roughly chopped tomatoes and sauté until the raw smell of tomatoes goes away.
- Now, add tamarind extract and jaggery. Sauté for a minute and add 1 cup of water. Allow this to boil till the raw smell of tamarind and jaggery disappears. This may take around 6 to 8 minutes.
- Now, add the cooked dal mixture and mix everything together. cook for about 2 minutes and then add 3 cups of water. Adjust the consistency to suit your requirement. This sambar should be slightly runny as it will thicken once it cools down due to moong dal.
- Add required salt & turmeric powder. Add 2 slit green chillies, a handful chopped fresh coriander and allow it to boil well (about 10 minutes).
- Turn off the heat, add finely chopped Coriander and set aside while we prepare the tempering.
For the Tempering:
- Add 2 tbsp Oil to a pan. To this add 1 tsp mustard seeds & let it splutter. Then add a few curry leaves.
- Now add in cubed onions & 1/2 tsp salt. Sauté for a minute & add in 2 tbsp of sambar powder & 1/2 tsp asafoetida.
- Mix well & add 1/4 cup water. Let it cook for a minute. Turn off the heat.
Add Tempering to Sambar & Boil:
- Transfer the tempering to the sambar & mix well.
- Now, boil the sambar for about 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat once the sambar comes to rolling boil.
- Add a tsp of ghee (optional) and cover sambar with a lid and give some standing time before serving.
Recipe Video
Notes
- This quantity of sambar powder is sufficient to make sambar 2 to 3 times depending on your spice levels.
- Use a mix of toor dal & moong dal or add a little masoor dal too! Or just make with toor dal!
- Skip onion to make no onion, no garlic idli sambar
- You can also use few pumpkin cubes along with dal to get natural sweetness in sambar. Use any vegetable of your choice but doo not miss shallots!
- Tamarind is on the lighter side in this sambar.
- If you would like the veggies to have more bite to it cook it separately and add it to the dal later.
- But, usually the veggies should be more mushy in this sambar as it should just melt in the mouth and should not take away your attention from the main tiffin item.
- Adding a little Jaggery / sugar will enhance the taste.
- The consistency should not be too think or too runny. It has to be such that it should stick & get absorbed to idli/vada.
Do check out other SAMBAR RECIPES & LENTILS & DAL RECIPES from blog!!!
Many more to come!!…..STAY TUNED!!
Hungry for more? Never miss a recipe!!…Subscribe to MasalaKorb and have posts delivered straight to your inbox! And connect with me on Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest for all of the latest updates.
Do subscribe to my YouTube Channel for latest video alerts!!
Happy Cooking 🙂
Cheers!!
Padma.
Leave a Reply