Idli Sambar

Ingredients:

Idli:

4 cups idli rice
1 cup split urad dal
1 cup poha (beaten rice)

How it's made:

Wash and soak the above ingredients for 6-8 hours or overnight. Grind well until smooth and let it ferment. During summers, the batter can be left on kitchen counter top and it takes 6-8 hours (or overnight) to ferment. When the weather is cooler, I heat the oven to 200 deg F. Turn off the oven and after 5 mins, place the batter and let it sit for 8 hours.
The batter needs to be fermented well for soft idlis. Once the batter is well fermented, add salt. Stir well. Pour batter into idli moulds and steam for 10-15 minutes. Serve hot with Sambar/ chutney.

Sambar:

1 medium chayote/Bangalore Brinjal, peeled, cored and cut into cubes
1 small potato, peeled and cut into cubes
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, roughly chopped
3/4 cup cooked toor dal
3 tsp sambar powder
marble size tamarind, soaked in luke warm water for 10-15 minutes
salt to taste
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
oil
coriander leaves for garnishing

How it's made:

In a heavy bottom pan, cook chayote, potato, carrot, onion together with 1/2 cup water and salt to taste. When the vegetables are cooked add toor dal. Let it boil. In the meantime, extract pulp from tamarind. Discard fiber and mix sambar powder to tamarind extract. Add to dal and vegetables. Boil well.
In a skillet or "Phanna Davlo", heat oil. Add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add curry leaves. Add seasoning to sambar. Adjust salt and garnish with coriander leaves.