Sambhar Masala Powder Recipe

South Indian spice blend used by Brahmins to prepare vegetarian dishes

The beans in the recipe give it a nutty flavor and also help thickening of the gravy. Normally, all the ingredients are roasted one at a time on a hot griddle with Ghee (Clarified butter) and then ground to a powder. I will use pre-heated oven to get comparable results.

Ingredients

1. Cumin seeds: 1 Tablespoon

2. Coriander seeds: 2 Tablespoons

3. Curry leaves: 8

4. Ajwain: ½ teaspoon

5. Fenugreek seeds: 1½ teaspoon

6. Turmeric powder: 2 teaspoons

7. Brown Mustard seeds: 2 teaspoons

8. Black peppercorn: 20

Use Tellicherry pepper for best flavor.

9. Decorticated spilt Black Matpe (Dhuli Urad Dal): 1 Tablespoon

10. Decorticated split Chickpeas (Chana Dal): 1 Tablespoon

11. Decorticated spilt Mung Beans (Dhuli Moong Dal): 1 Tablespoon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 250º F.

2. Spread out split beans in a cookie baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes.

3. Add remaining ingredients except Turmeric powder to the beans on the cookie baking sheet. Make sure all the ingredients are uniformly spread out.

4. Bake another 10 minutes.

5. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and let it cool to a room temperature. Add Turmeric powder before grinding.

6. Grind spices together pounding with Mortar and Pestle. I like to use conical Burr Coffee grinder.

7. Store in a colored jar tightly secured with lid.

Yogi's Notes:

1. I have omitted red chili on purpose. User may add Cayenne powder as needed.

2. I have also omitted coconut to make it general purpose.

3. User may also elect not to use any beans (Black Matpe, Chickpeas, and Mung Beans). The beans basically serve as thickeners with some nutty flavor. If your use does not need any thickeners, just avoid these beans and make a more general purpose spice blend.