Sambarnee

My husband loves this side dish and the name was given by him :) He says that this tastes both like a chutney and sambar so named it Sambarnee :) This dish is a lifesaver when you have many guests and cannot grind so much of chutney and don't have cooked dal to prepare sambar as well. The ingredients are readily available and can be prepared very quickly and serve a big crowd.

• Shallots - 2 fistful (I added an onion extra as shallots were less) chop roughly
• Curry leaves - 1 arcs
• coriander leaves - for garnishing
• mustard - for tadka
• urad dhal, channa dal - for tadka
• asafoetida- 1tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• salt - as per taste
• Oil - 5 tsp
• water - approx 300 ml
• TO GRIND
• Tomato - 3 big halved or quartered
• Coconut pieces - approx 1/4 coconut
• red chilly - 6 / as per taste
• Coriander seeds - 2.5 tbsp
• Cloves(Kraambu) - 2
• Fennel seeds(sombu) - 1tsp
• Fried Gram Dal(pottu kadalai) - 1tsp / poppy seeds - 1tsp (Poppy seeds give a rich flavor than fried Dal. 

Serves ~ 4-5

Cooking time ~ 1/2 hr

Method:

• Grind the items specified under "To Grind" to a fine paste and keep aside.
• In a kadai add oil and once it is hot, add mustard and let it splutter. Then fry the pulses(urad and channa dal) till they turn golden brown.
• Add curry leaves, asafoetida, onion and a little amount of salt which helps onion fry well. Onion first reaches a translucent pink color when it is fried. Fry a min or two beyond that to achieve best taste. Watch out not to burn the onions.
• Now add the ground paste and fry for a min or two. 
• Add required amount of salt(for the quantity which I mentioned I added approx 2 tsp of salt), water and boil for around 5 minutes.
• Upon boiling the consistency will thicken and you can add/reduce water depending on your requirement. 
• Before switching off, add a handful of coriander leaves(add the leaves alone and save the stem for coriander chutney/coriander thogayal) for mouth watering flavor.
• This dish goes well with steaming hot idly and soft dosas.