Janatha hotel sambar recipe
"I have cooked for the chief minister Bangarappa. I was also a chef at the Janatha hotel," bragged Shri Gururaj as he rolled up the dosa from the hot gridle. Gururaj was no ordinary cook. We considered ourselves very lucky to have been able to engage his services during our visit to Bangalore in 2002. The mention of the Janatha Hotel caught my attention like a lump of jaggery's to an ant.
"How do they make sambar at the Janatha Hotel? " I asked eagerly.
"Do you want another dosa?" replied Gururaj.
"Sure," I said readying my plate and transferring my thoughts on the crispy red dosa. It was not until I finished my plate that I realized he had overlooked my question.
"You didn't tell me how they make sambar at the Janatha Hotel," I asked him again.
"Do you want some chatni?" replied Gururaj. Was he hard of hearing or was he simply eluding my question?
"ree Gururaj, " I said raising my voice, "You must tell me how they make sambar at the Janatha Hotel."
"Are you ready for coffee?" replied Gururaj dodging me again.
I was not going to give up. I was only a split short of shaking Shri Gururaj by his collar.
"You are not leaving without telling me the secret of the Janatha Hotel."
"solpa gasgase haaki sar," was all that Shri Gururaj said to my nagging request.
I could never learn the actual recipe but Gururaj had given me a valuable clue. I have been trying for years and my sambar still doesn't taste like Janatha. What follows next is by best attempt.
Ingredients:
- tur dal 3/4 cup
- tamarind 1 fistful (or to taste) - soak in water for 30 mins minimum
- MTR or any sambar powder 3 tbs
- chili powder 1 tbs
- poppy seeds (ಗಸಗಸೆ / खस खस) 3tbs
- coriander seeds 2 tbs
- tomato 8 med size - cut each into 2-3 slices
- onion 2 - chopped (not quite finely)
- coconut grating 1/2 cup
- haldi 1 tbs
- salt to taste
- curry leaves
- jaggary - 1 or 2 cubes.
Preparation:
- cook tur dal in pressure cooker
- boil tomatoes with a little water for about 20 minutes , add haldi
- shallow fry onions
- shallow fry poppy seeds + coriander seeds for a couple of minutes (taking care not to over burn) and then finely grind using a hand stone grinder with a dash of water or dry grind in a coffee grinder
- wet grind with into a thick paste the mix of:
- the above powder from 4
- half of cooked tur dal from 1
- half of boiled tomatoes from 2
- half of shallow fried onions from 3
- coconut grating
- sambar powder and chili powder.
- add a cup or two of water to aid grinding.
- In a large pan start boiling everything together, adding the remaining tur dal, shallow fried onions, cooked tomatoes, tamarind paste and curry leaves
- add jaggary and salt to taste (how much jaggary? sorry it is hard to quantify).
- add just enough water so as to bring the samabar to the right consistency
- let it boil for a good 20-30 minutes in low heat
- garnish with vaggarne
