Recipe from Raghavan Iyer
Adapted by Kim Severson
- Total Time
- 10 minutes, plus cooling
- Rating
- 4(65)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Raghavan Iyer, the author of "The Turmeric Trail" and teacher who was born in Mumbai and came to the United States as a young man, says there as many sambhar masalas as there are kitchens in south India. The spice mix is used to flavor sambhar, the ubiquitous thin stew of Southern India. If you can’t find the curry leaves, you can leave them out, but it’s worth it to search out a South Asian or international grocery or order some online. Use it in curries, stir-fries or simple dishes of roasted or grilled vegetables. It can be rubbed onto meat before grilling or stirred into mashed potatoes enriched with melted butter. The recipe can easily be doubled and keeps well. Do not refrigerate as it will cake. —Kim Severson
Featured in: An Indian Spice Mix, Sambhar Masala, for All Seasons
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Ingredients
Yield:About ¾ cup
- ¼cup firmly packed medium to large curry leaves
- ¼cup dried Thai or cayenne chiles, stems removed
- 2tablespoons dried yellow split peas, picked over for stones
- 2tablespoons coriander seeds
- 1tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1½teaspoons fenugreek seeds
- 1½teaspoons black or yellow mustard seeds
- 1½teaspoons white or black poppy seeds
- 1cinnamon stick, about 3 inches long, broken into three pieces
- 1½teaspoon sesame oil or vegetable oil
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (2 servings)
147 calories; 7 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 18 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 12 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Combine leaves, chiles, peas and spices in a bowl and drizzle with sesame oil, tossing to coat evenly.
Step
2
Heat medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add coated spices and toast, stirring constantly, 2 to 4 minutes, until the leaves appear dry and brittle, the chiles begin to blacken slightly, the split peas turn dark brown and the mustard seeds begin to pop. Watch carefully, so the mixture does not burn. Remove to a plate to cool.
Step
3
When spices are cool to the touch, pour half into a spice grinder. (A clean coffee grinder will do.) Grind until spices are the texture of finely ground pepper. Transfer mixture to a bowl and repeat with remaining spices. The mixture will keep at room temperature for up to 2 months in a tightly sealed container.
Ratings
4
out of 5
65
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Cooking Notes
Jenny
I live in rural Pennsylvania and getting exotic cooking ingredients can be tricky. I could not find a source for fresh curry leaves, so I bought a tree! 'Tim,' the Curry tree is now 8 years old and lives in a large pot in my sunny bedroom in the winter and on my deck in the summer. I frequently toss the leaves into stews and stir-fries of all variety, providing a earthy, citrusy tang like nothing else. Use instead of bay leaves for a unique take on jambalaya or creole.
Kartik
You'd use it in Step 1, instead of the olive oil.
Btw, cold-pressed raw sesame oil is the right oil to use for this and for any South Indian cooking (except for deep frying). It's hard to find outside of Indian grocery stores (you don't want the 'roasted and pressed' variety used in Chinese cooking), but you can order it online. 'Idhayam' is a major Indian brand.
In my experience, the effort in acquiring sesame oil to use in sambar is totally worthwhile :)
Lynn
Hi Jenny,
Where did you buy the tree? An online source? I am hoping to have a tree of my very own too.
S
Suhasini:
A small amount of cinnamon IS added to Karnataka style sambar podis. There are regional variations in sambar podis. Cinammon is also used in Chettinad region cuisine (also South Indian).
Jagu
Indeed, there are many variations. I don't use cinnamon or poppy seeds, but I add a little more than half a teaspoon of urad dal to the roasting mixture. And if the masala is to be used immediately, then I toast lightly toast some shredded coconut (don't over do that step). About two table spoons of coconut should do. A teaspoon of cumin seeds is not a bad addition either.
Jagu
No, don't use red lentils. Chana dal, nearly the same as split peas is better.
Karl
I made this for a dinner party and everyone ate it up, going back for seconds. Based on the reviewers, I decided to add some boiling water to the tamarind (2 tablespoons), and it worked very well.
Amina
Add a couple of tablespoons of fresh grated coconut (you can find fresh frozen coconut in the freezer sections of Indian grocery stores). Roast it for a couple of minutes and grind it up with the rest of your sambhar powder.
Jennie
I made a quarantine version of this with what was available--so no curry leaves, no fenugreek, no poppy seeds. It was nice--we had it rubbed on shell-on shrimp which we then grilled. Probably not authentic at all, but still a flavorful way to eat shrimp.
14 August 2016
Wonderful spice! I didn't have any dried yellow split peas on hand and so used red lentils. Marvellous!
Jenny
I live in rural Pennsylvania and getting exotic cooking ingredients can be tricky. I could not find a source for fresh curry leaves, so I bought a tree! 'Tim,' the Curry tree is now 8 years old and lives in a large pot in my sunny bedroom in the winter and on my deck in the summer. I frequently toss the leaves into stews and stir-fries of all variety, providing a earthy, citrusy tang like nothing else. Use instead of bay leaves for a unique take on jambalaya or creole.
Lynn
Hi Jenny,
Where did you buy the tree? An online source? I am hoping to have a tree of my very own too.
Jagu
Indeed, there are many variations. I don't use cinnamon or poppy seeds, but I add a little more than half a teaspoon of urad dal to the roasting mixture. And if the masala is to be used immediately, then I toast lightly toast some shredded coconut (don't over do that step). About two table spoons of coconut should do. A teaspoon of cumin seeds is not a bad addition either.
Karl
I made this for a dinner party and everyone ate it up, going back for seconds. Based on the reviewers, I decided to add some boiling water to the tamarind (2 tablespoons), and it worked very well.
Suhasini
All sambars, regardless of which part of South India they're made in, use asafoetida powder in Step 1. Also, cinnamon is never added to any sambar masala. Cinammon is ground into garam masala, a spice, which is used in mostly North Indian cooking and rarely to prepare South Indian dishes.
S
Suhasini:
A small amount of cinnamon IS added to Karnataka style sambar podis. There are regional variations in sambar podis. Cinammon is also used in Chettinad region cuisine (also South Indian).
Suzanne F
Is it all right to use red lentils instead of yellow split peas?
Jagu
No, don't use red lentils. Chana dal, nearly the same as split peas is better.
Anu
My Mom learnt from an Iyengar lady and we love it . She starts off with roasting the turmeric root in a teaspoon of Castor oil for 2 lbs of the powder.
Nina
There is no direction in the recipe for the sesame oil?
Kartik
You'd use it in Step 1, instead of the olive oil.
Btw, cold-pressed raw sesame oil is the right oil to use for this and for any South Indian cooking (except for deep frying). It's hard to find outside of Indian grocery stores (you don't want the 'roasted and pressed' variety used in Chinese cooking), but you can order it online. 'Idhayam' is a major Indian brand.
In my experience, the effort in acquiring sesame oil to use in sambar is totally worthwhile :)
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