Mango is known as manga in Tamil and Aam in Hindi. Usually I make instant pickle with partially ripe mangoes. Today for a change I made sambar with it. The natural sweet and sour flavour of the mango brought a good balance in the flavour of the sambar.

And also today I had used the readymade sambar powder ( Eastern). The flavour, colour and the aroma of the sambar was almost like the sambar which we make with the home made powder 🙂

Ingredients

Partially ripe mango – 1 medium sized

Tamarind – gooseberry sized

Sambar powder- 3 tbsps

Grated jaggery – 1/2 tsp

Tuvar ( pigeon peas) dal- 3/4th cup

Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

For tempering

Coconut oil ( or any refined oil) – 2 tsps

Mustard – 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds( methi/ vendhayam) – 1/2 tsp

Grated coconut – 1 tbsp

Curry leaves – few

Hing ( asafoetida/ Perungayam) – a pinch

Method

Soak tamarind in 2 cups of water for 30 mins. Squeeze well and take the extract.

Wash and soak tuvar dal for half an hour. Drain, add fresh water and turmeric powder. Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles. Dal should be very soft and mushy.

Wash and chop mango.

In a pan, add the mango, tamarind extract, sambar powder, jaggery and salt to taste.

Mix well and let it boil till the mangoes become soft and the raw smell of tamarind goes away.

Mash the cooked dal well and add to the tamarind mixture. Add required amount to water to get the sambar consistency. Check for the seasonings.

Let the sambar simmer for few mins.

Heat the coconut oil. Add mustard. When it stats spluttering, add fenugreek seeds, grated coconut, curry leaves and hing.

Sauté for few seconds and add the tempering to the simmering sambar.

Serve the sambar hot with steamed rice / idli / dosa 🙂