Sambar Powder - Homemade Sambar powder

This is my mother-in-law's signature dish. Any dish prepared with this powder tastes great. My mother-in-law says coriander seeds and red chillies are the 2 key ingredients for this powder.

We usually buy ingredients fresh from the shop and give it to the flour mill for grinding. She usually adds turmeric powder only after getting the powder from flour mill. Then we spread it in a big newspaper and allow it to cool down and store it in air tight containers. This powder stays fresh even for a year, if handled properly. Recently we tried preparing at home using lesser quantities, since we do not have the luxury of flour mill here. I have given the quantities here according to how we prepared it at home.

Sambar Powder Recipe

Ingredients

• Coriander seeds(Dhaniya)  -  400 gm
• Red chillies(round variety)  -  150 gm
• Toor dal  -  1/4 cup + 1.5 tbsp
• Channa dal  -  1/4 cup
• Fenugreek seeds  -  1.5 tbsp
• Black pepper  -  2 tbsp
• Turmeric powder  -  50 gm

Method

• Dry grind all the ingredients except turmeric powder to a fine powder. 
• Finally add the turmeric powder and mix well.
• If required, sieve to remove the coarse particles.
• This powder can be used for our usual sambar varieties, rasam with dal. I always add reduce red chilli powder and add this sambar powder in any recipe which requires dhaniya powder. It gives a wonderful flavour to the dish.

Notes

• Increase red chilli quantity to 200 gm if you want it to be more spicy. Since i use red chilli powder also along with this in the dishes, the proportion was perfect.
• My mother-in-law never sun dries the ingredients. She says if we use quality ingredients, this step can be skipped. But if you require, you can sun dry the ingredients before grinding them.
• It is always better to give it in flour mill if preparing in bulk.
• Coriander seeds usually takes time to powder in mixie. If required, you can dry roast in a pan and then powder it as well. But we powdered it as such by using a small mixie jar.
• Grind in batches if using large quantities. Allow the powder to cool down before storing it in containers.
• Always use dry spoon to handle it.
• When handled properly, this stays fresh even for a year in room temperature.