Uppuchar - Sesame seeds Sambhar

Uppuchar is undoubtedly my most favourite kuzhambu as I am big fan of any dish made with sesame seeds flavour. This gravy is usually served in all shrarthams (death anniversary of elders) but we make in home on normal days too. Since we add lot of veggies to this flavourful gravy we don't even need a separate side dish. A simple keerai masiyal along with steamed would make a perfect combo with this kuzhambu. This gravy tastes even better the next day! Lets see how to make uppuchar today :). 

Uppuchar

Cuisine: Indian Category: Main Course Difficulty level: Medium Prep Time: 15 mins Cook time: 20 mins Servings: 4

Ingredients Tamarind Gooseberry sized ball Mixed veggies* 1/2 cup Salt 1 Tsp Turmeric 1/4 Tsp To roast and grind Oil 1 Tsp Urad dal 1 Tsp Channa dal 1 Tsp Methi seeds 1/2 Tsp Dry red chilies* 10-12 Curry leaves few Sesame seeds* 2 Tsp Raw rice 1 Tsp To Temper Gingelly oil 1 Tbsp Curry leaves 1 spring Mustard 1/2 Tsp Preparation     1.     Soak tamarind in hot water and extract juice. Chop the veggies to medium sized chunks.           2.     Add oil to pan and roast the dals, methi seeds, curry leaves along with red chili till they are roasted well. Roast sesame seeds and rice separately till the sesame seeds starts spluttering.     3.     Cool down the roasted ingredients separately. Grind the dals and chili first. Finally add sesame seeds and rice and blend for another minute to get a fine powder.

Method             1.     Boil the vegetables by adding water. Cook till they become soft and tender.      2.     Add the tamarind juice along with turmeric and salt. Boil till the raw smell of tamarind goes off. Add the ground powder and mix without any lumps and boil for few more minutes.     3.     Finally temper with ingredients mentioned and serve!!

Notes      ·         Usually brinjal, bitter guard, broad beans and plantain are added for this gravy. You can mix and match the veggies according to their availability.      ·         Number of red chili vary according to nature of the chili and our spice level. Usually I prefer round chilies and 12 works best for us.     ·         You can add either black sesame seeds or reddish ones. white sesame is not used much in "Tam Brahm" cuisine.       ·         Color of the gravy depends on nature of the tamarind also.      ·         Rice is used for thickening. This is a thick, rich and spicy gravy in general with the strong flavor of gingelly oil and sesame.

Tastes best with curd rice :)!!!