LIVE TO COOK

Sambar powder is the spice mix of Southern India. Every family have their own way of preparing it. The spices are either sun dried or dry roasted in cast iron pan. The concept behind it is to make the spices crisp, as it makes the grinding process easy. I am registering the way I prepare sambar powder, in this post. we will be seeing recipes using this powder in future posts.

The Ingredients I use:

Coriander seeds – 1 cup
Black pepper corns – 1/3 cup
Fenugreek seeds – 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds – 1 tablespoon
Whole Red chilli – 1 and 1/3 cup
Toor dal – 1/3 cup
Chana dal – 1/3 cup
Dried Turmeric roots – 4 count (We need a very strong blender or food processor to grind turmeric root. If you don’t have one, use 1 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder)

Here’s how I prepare:

I will measure and spread all the ingredients in a cookie sheet. After baking my bread, I will turn off the oven and pop the cookie sheet in the hot oven. The oven takes atleast 20 minutes to cool. By that time all the spices turn crisp without any burns.

If you don’t want to wait till you bake something and get a hot oven, you can preheat the oven at 400F for 20 minutes. Turn off the oven and keep the cookie sheet in the hot oven and allow the oven to cool down.

If you have hot weather year round, you can keep the cookie sheet in the hot sun for 3 hours.

After the spices are ready for grinding, I will grind the spices to fine powder by sieving and grinding again. I will repeat this process until there is less than 1/8 cup of large particles.

I will store the powder in a sterilized and dry jar.

This quantity of spices will give approximately 2 cups of powder which is enough for 2 months for a family of 2 people.