Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Quick Sambhar for a quick breakfast


Something came to sharp focus the last few days, the fact that I and pretty much a lot of people are slave to the Internet. It has fast moved from being a communication tool to a essential utility just like electricity, water and gas.
If you say I am late in my realization then that's what it is.

Sometime last week we started having problems with connecting to secure web sites which means practically everything these days - banking, email, investing, credit card bill all of it and most importantly logging on to blogger. You must know how traumatic that must be for someone who has blogging addiction, worse was not being able to log on to my google reader! It took exactly 5 days to resolve the issue. Verizon who is our provider would not accept it was their problem to begin with "must be something with your computer". Lucky for us we have 3 Operating Systems, 2 version of IE and Firefox to test it out. We thought it was our router but a quick call to a neighbor revealed it was not that either, he was having the exact same problem. But by magic the issue got resolved by the afternoon but the relief did not last long, the issue came back Sunday afternoon. More weird as for a few of the other neighbors it was just fine depending on how their connection is routed I guess. Googling DH found a forum online and thereby a few others in the same geographic having the same problem. Finally after much frustration the problem was finally resolved this afternoon. Hopefully I have not spoken too soon!!

But the whole episode underscored a deeper problem for which I don't have a solution. I was going through my Bank statement and I noticed a check written for a big amount and no recollection of why or who it was made out to. Normally I would login to my bank and that would be that. I am glad we have not made the switch to VOIP yet. Imagine if I were a day trader calling an agent to do a stock trade is going to cost twice as much as doing it online and the munutes I spend holding for a rep is going to be bad. I am not sure how to deal with this problem but I am going to try and see if my dialup works still :)

Now on to more pleasant things like this Sambhar. Cooked the old fashioned way with old fashioned ingredients but with quick instant result. If you consider Pressure Cooker low tech that is. My mom makes these for breakfast usually and it is a perfect accompaniment for dosais or idlis. Absent tamarind or any strong spices this is the perfect start to the day. Listed are 2 different ways to cook the sambhar. I like to saute the onions so usually follow Method 1, my mom generally follows Method 2. Can't tell the difference between the two in terms of taste.


Photobucket
Wheat Dosai with Sambhar



Serves: 3-4

1. 1/2 cup Split Moong dal slightly roasted
2. 1 juicy ripe tomato
3. Pearl onions or shallots 8-10 peeled and sliced
4. 3-4 green chilies
5. 1 tsp sambhar powder (purely optional)
6. handful coriander leaves
7. seasonings: mustard, curry leaves
8. 1 tsp oil
9. Salt to taste

Method1:
1. Pressure cook the moong dal till soft and mushy.
2. In a pan heat the oil, add the seasonings, saute the onions slightly, add the tomatoes and green chillies and saute till tomatoes are mushy
3. Pour over the cooked moong dal, mix
4. Add the chopped coriander leaves on top, sambhar powder if adding and salt to taste
5. Cover and pressure cook for 1 more sound.

Method2
1. Add all the ingredients 1-6 and pressure cook for 2 sounds
2. Now in a small pan heat the oil add the seasonings and when the mustard pops pour over the cooked dal. Add salt and mix



Ready to serve in a jiffy.

17 comments:

  1. mmm will try this.. looks so yummy

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  2. That is a quick method... got to try it.. :)

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  3. Oh dear! I can't imagine a life without internet! I'm that addicted too. :)

    I thought you were going to tell us you lost electricity. hehee.. Do you have an emergency kit for this winter? I had one for last winter.. This winter, I'm not ready at all. :(

    sambar looks so good and so simple. guess what I'm making for dinner today? :)

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  4. Sambar loooks yumm. Yeah i know how you feel, i cannot imagine if i don't have internet connection.
    Sometimes when they are working they do say you might now have internet for few hours and then i am like what???

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  5. YUM! Looks good Indo.
    Happy new year to you and family in advance. We are off to Orlando on Friday. Enjoy and I will see you next year! :))

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  6. After being so used to high speed internet, I can imagine how painful dialup can be.
    I usually use toor daal while making sambhar. Liked the idea of using moong daal.

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  7. Still have your sambhar powder, should try this out. Weird how the connection to some of your houses could prevent you from logging in. Did you figure out what the prob was ?

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  8. Loved this quick way to make sambhar,looks delicious...I agree I cannot imagine life without internet even for a few hours :-)

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  9. I totally understand what you mean about internet addiction. I went to my parents' house for a few days and they were having the same problem as you. I thought I'd lose my mind!! Thankfully, it seems to be resolved now.

    Sambar is the perfect way to start the day! :)

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  10. Slave to the Internet, I know what you mean! Can't seem to start, end or go through the day without it!!! But I'm wary of transactions over the Net, tho' I have made a few.

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  11. I love this simple, light sambar and make it often with ven pongal.

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  12. This is so nice recipe. Looks so nice. Really quick fix. YUM!

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  13. Hooray for your sambhar in a hurry -- I could almost go and cook this now, with the snow coming down and the furnace not running, I could use something warm coming from the stove :)

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  14. My mother makes her sambhar this way, though I don't.:) But yes, it tastes good.

    Bonded to the internet is one way of describing it. True, feels almost like some part of oneself is missing without the net.:)

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  15. This sambar tastes really awesome! very simple and yet delicious. love it...we r having this one for dinner today :) thanks for the recipe.

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