Ratna Cafe Style Sambar – How to make Ratna Cafe sambar – Video Recipe
This recipe is purely a genius from my friend Bhavani Ganesan. She shared this recipe in a forum and I had to immediately try it. Everyone who has lived in Chennai for sometime would love the sambar idli from Ratna Cafe. I love the mini idli sambar from Ratna Cafe. The idlis that are dunked in sambar and topped with a spoonful of raw onions. The soft idli, the flavorful sambar and the slight crunch from the onions are all now food memories for me.
She describes this recipe as “So simple and tasty!!!” She has a great memory of her childhood that’s associated with this sambar and this is her story. This story is the one with her uncle, Maama – Mr. Srinivasan. He worked with the Pallavan transport corporation. “When we were on vacations at Triplicane mama’s house, every morning, mama’s tenant, who was one of the staffs at the Cafe would take us to the restaurant early morning around 5 o’ clock. Maama was doing night shifts as a cashier and we would go with the tenant uncle to the cafe and wait for him. Maama would join us at about 6.30 in the morning. Till then, I would be sitting in the kitchen watching all the action live. There was a big stone mill used for grinding the masalas. The place was filled with fragrant roasted chillies, coriander seeds, browned lentils etc… They were glistening as they were roasted in copious amounts of oil and ghee and the kitchen was hot and fragrant. The cut veggies, fresh shredded coconut, onions, tomatoes all were lined up in huge vessels. There was a person designated for crushing tomatoes by hand. It was a sight to watch. We were given our share of raw tomatoes for snacking too. The taste of country tomatoes is something that i remember very vividly. They are my sweet memories. Tamarind was never added in their sambar.”
Here is a picture of Bavani Ganesan with her maama. Her maama is differently abled. He was one of the victims of polio.
Here is how to do Ratna Cafe Style Sambar – How to make Ratna Cafe sambar
First we need to make a Sambar Masala. Let the smell of fragrant roasted spices waft your kitchen.
Take a heavy pan and add in a teaspoon of ghee. Add in the dried red chillies, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds (vendhayam) and urad dal. Fry for a couple of minutes until the seeds and lentils are well roasted and the urad dal is golden. Add in dessicated coconut and fry till the coconut is nice and golden. Switch off the flame and set aside to cool.
Take a mixie grinder jar and add in the roasted spices mixture. Add in the onion, tomato, green chilli, turmeric powder, chilli powder, jaggery, salt and asafoetida. The original recipe uses compound asafoetida. I have used Asafoetida powder (perungayam) as that’s what I had. Add in quarter cup of water and grind to a smooth paste. Set aside.
Take a pressure cooker and add in the cleaned and washed toor dal and moong dal. Add 2 cups of water. Cook for 4 whistles. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to be released naturally. Set aside.
Take a pressure cooker and add in the chopped tomatoes. Add in half cup of water. Add in the curry leaves. Add in the veggies. Add in the cooked dal mixture. Add in the ground masala. Cover the cooker and cook for 2 whistles. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to be released naturally. Set aside. Sambar is almost ready.
Now lets do the tempering.
Heat ghee in a pan until hot. Add in the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Let it splutter. Remove from heat immediately and add it to the sambar.
Serve Sambar with soft idlis and top it with chopped onions, Ratna Cafe Style.
Here is the Video of the recipe. Hope you like it.
- 1 teaspoon ghee
- 4 dried red chillies
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- ½ teaspoon urad dal
- ½ medium sized onion, chopped
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 1 green chilli, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon asafoetida
- ¼ cup dessicated coconut
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1//4 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon jaggery
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup water to grind
- ¼ cup toor dal
- ¼ cup yellow moong dal
- 2 cups water
- 3 tomatoes, chopped
- ½ cup water for final cooking
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- 1 drumstick, chopped
- (Add veggies of your choice in your kitchen)
- 1 teaspoon ghee
- ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
- Take a heavy pan and add in 2 teaspoon of oil. Add in the dried red chillies, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds (vendhayam) and urad dal. Fry for a couple of minutes until the seeds and lentils are well roasted and the urad dal is golden. Add in dessicated coconut and fry till the coconut is nice and golden. Switch off the flame and set aside to cool.
- Take a mixie grinder jar and add in the roasted spices. Add in the onion, tomato, green chilli, turmeric powder, chilli powder, jaggery, salt and asafoetida. Add in quarter cup of water and grind to a smooth paste. Set aside.
- Take a pressure cooker and add in the cleaned and washed toor dal and moong dal. Add 2 cups of water. Cook for 4 whistles. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to be released naturally. Set aside.
- Take a pressure cooker and add in the chopped tomatoes. Add in ½ cup of water. Add in the curry leaves. Add in the veggies. Add in the cooked dal mixture. Add in the ground masala. Cover the cooker and cook for 2 whistles. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to be released naturally. Set aside. Sambar is almost ready.
- Now lets do the tempering.
- Heat ghee in a pan until hot. Add in the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Let it splutter. Remove from heat immediately and add it to the sambar.
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