Ratna Cafe is a very popular fast food restaurant in Chennai. Ratna Cafe is one of the longest standing restaurant, popular for its sambar-idly and unique taste that has been maintained over the years. This sambar is a perfect side dish for Idli, dosa, Pongal, Vada, bonda, rice and you name anything.
If we make this style of sambar once, we never want to go back to our conventional way of making sambar any more. It has its unique flavor, texture and wonderful taste which makes us addictive to this Sambar. Goes very well with rice as a main course and also as an accompaniment to Idli / Dosa / Pongal !
I got this recipe in one of the FB group. An admin (Mr.Varagooran Narayanan) in "Brahmin's Bojan" group shared this wonderful recipe. The way he explained the instructions and his explanation of why this sambar is unique is so inspiring and immediately I started gathering at all ingredients to make it. If I come across any recipe in social media, I will first make it for my family to see how they react to it. This time, its my husband who wants to give it a try. After I gathered the ingredients, he followed the recipe instructions word to word and it tasted so awesome. Couple of days later, I was again tempted to make this sambar and this time I wanted to make a video and record this recipe that will be helpful to many of us like me.
There are 4 steps in preparing this yummy Sambar:
The procedure for preparing this sambar seems little complicated and lengthy. There are lots of ingredients and different sets of procedure to prepare this Ratna cafe style Sambar. Some of the ingredients are added multiple times in different steps but it's not overwhelming or dominating. Generally in restaurants, especially South Indian restaurants, sambar is an integral food in the menu. They have to prepare in larger quantity and so they prepare the sambar in 3-4 steps and keep it separately and whenever they need to serve, they will combine all the separately prepared mixtures and make wonderful sambar.
I will tell 4 different steps now..
Step 1: Preparing dal and veggies
We first need to pressure cook dal and pumpkin. For sambar, we usually cook toor dal but for this sambar we use both moong and toor dal
Step 2: Preparing Onion-Tomato Mixture
Second thing we need to prepare is onion-tomato mixture. We are just going to grind raw onion, tomato and jaggery and set this aside which will be used later
Step 3: Preparing Sambar Masala
Third step is frying and grinding the ingredients for sambar masala.
Step 4:Combining all prepared mixtures with tamarind extract
Finally we need to cook veggies and tamarind along with the mixtures we prepared in step 1, 2 and 3 and finally garnish with coriander leaves and tempering in ghee. Ratna Cafe Style Sambar is ready!!!
Other yummy Sambar varieties to try:
Recipe Card:
Madras Ratna Cafe Sambar Recipe | How to make Ratna Cafe style Sambar ?
Equipments Needed
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
To make fresh Sambar Ground Masala
- ¼ teaspoon Mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon Fenugreek seeds
- 2 teaspoon Split Bengal Gram (Channa Dal / Kadalaparuppu)
- 2 teaspoon Urad Dal
- 6 nos Red Chili
- 1 tablespoon Coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoon Grated Coconut (preferably Desiccated Coconut)
- 1 pinch Turmeric Powder
- 1 pinch Asafoetida (Asafetida / Hing)
For Sambar Gravy
- 2 nos Tomato small size
- 1 nos Onion big size
- 1 small piece Jaggery
Vegetables
- 10 nos Shallots / Baby Onions
- 1 nos Carrot chopped into cubes
- 1 nos Drumstick chopped into 2" size
- 1 nos Tomato chopped into 4 pices
- 50 grams Yellow Pumpkin
Dals for the Sambar
- ¼ cup Toor Dal (Pigeon pea)
- ¼ cup Moong dal
For Tempering
- 2 teaspoon Ghee
- ¼ teaspoon Fenugreek seeds
- 2 pinch Asafoetida (Asafetida / Hing)
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
Other items
- 1 gooseberry size Tamarind
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 handful Coriander Leaves chopped
Instructions
1. Preparation for making Sambar
- Soak the tamarind in a water and extract the tamarind Juice
- Take the Toor dal, Moong dal and roughly chopped pumpkin to a vessel and pressure cook them over 3-4 whistles. Once cooked, mash this mixture nicely with a laddle.
- Peel the baby onion. Also Chop the vegitables (1 drumstick, carrot and a tomato) keep it aside
2. Let's make the fresh sambar ground masala
- Heat the pan and add a teaspoon of oil. When the oil is hot, add a pinch of mustard seeds and allow it to sputter.
- Add the following one after another and fry them till nice aroma comes – fenugreek seeds, Channa dal, Urad dal, red chili, Dhaniya and desiccated coconut. Make sure that the ingredients don’t burn
- Take this to a mixer grinder. Add a pinch of tumeric powder, hing and grind it by adding little water. Make sure that the masala mixture is coarse and not a nice smooth paste.
3. Gravy for the Sambar
- Take two tomato, one onion (chopped), piece of jaggery and grind to a smooth mixture and set it aside.
4. Let's start making the sambar
- Heat a teaspoon of ghee in pan, and add mustard seeds (1 tsp) when the oil is hot. Once the mustard seeds begins to sputter add the fenugreek seeds (½ tsp), curry leaves (few) and hing (a pinch) and fry for a minute.
- Add the peeled onion and fry them for few minutes till the raw smell goes off.
- Now add the chopped vegetables (carrot and drumstick), one tomato (chopped into 4 pices) along with turmeric and fry for a while. To this add water to cook the vegetables
- Allow the vegetables to cook for about 5-10 minutes in medium flame. When the vegetables are almost cooked, add the tamarind extract and salt and allow the tamarind juice to boil for 5 minutes till the raw smell goes off.
- Add the gravy (onion, tomato & jaggery paste) now. Now adjust the consistency of the sambar by adding water (approx. half cup)
- Also add the fresh sambar masala. Keep in medium flame and let the mixture cook for about 5 minutes.
- At this stage add the dal+pumpkin paste. Check the consistency of the sambar and adjust the same by adding water.
- When the sambar starts to boil, switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves
Seasoning
- Heat 1 teaspoon of ghee in pan, and add Cumin seeds when the ghee is hot. Once the cumin seeds begins to crack add the curry leaves and hing and fry for a minute. Add this to the Sambar
Sambar Ready!!
- Phew... ! The flavorful, colorful Sambar is ready to serve !. Enjoy this with Idli / Dosa or with a hot rice
Video
Notes
- Cook the vegetables before adding tamarind mixture. Drumsticks won't cook in the tamarind water.
- Choose the vegetables of your choice and add to this sambar. Usually sambar will be watery and less of vegetables.
Nutritional Info
1. PREPARATION FOR MAKING SAMBAR
-
Soak the tamarind in a water and extract the tamarind Juice
-
Take the Toor dal, Moong dal and roughly chopped pumpkin to a vessel and pressure cook them over 3-4 whistles. Once cooked, mash this mixture nicely with a laddle.
-
Peel the baby onion. Also Chop the vegitables (1 drumstick, carrot and a tomato) keep it aside
2. LET'S MAKE THE FRESH SAMBAR GROUND MASALA
-
Heat the pan and add a teaspoon of oil. When the oil is hot, add a pinch of mustard seeds and allow it to sputter.
-
Add the following one after another and fry them till nice aroma comes - fenugreek seeds, Channa dal, Urad dal, red chili, Dhaniya and desiccated coconut. Make sure that the ingredients don't burn.
-
Take this to a mixer grinder. Add a pinch of tumeric powder, hing and grind it by adding little water. Make sure that the masala mixture is coarse and not a nice smooth paste.
3. GRAVY FOR THE SAMBAR
-
Take two tomato, one onion (chopped), piece of jaggery and grind to a smooth mixture and set it aside.
4. LET'S START MAKING THE SAMBAR
-
Heat a teaspoon of ghee in pan, and add mustard seeds (1 tsp) when the oil is hot. Once the mustard seeds begins to sputter add the fenugreek seeds (½ tsp), curry leaves (few) and hing (a pinch) and fry for a minute.
-
Add the peeled onion and sauté them for few minutes till the raw smell goes off.
-
Now add the chopped vegetables (carrot and drumstick), one tomato (chopped into 4 pices) along with turmeric and fry for a while. To this add water to cook the vegetables
-
Allow the vegetables to cook for about 5-10 minutes in medium flame. When the vegetables are almost cooked, add the tamarind extract and salt and allow the tamarind juice to boil for 5 minutes till the raw smell goes off.
-
Add the gravy (onion, tomato & jaggery paste) now. Now adjust the consistency of the sambar by adding water (approx. half cup)
-
Also add the fresh sambar masala. Keep in medium flame and let the mixture cook for about 5 minutes.
-
At this stage add the dal+pumpkin paste. Check the consistency of the sambar and adjust the same by adding water.
-
When the sambar starts to boil, switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves
SEASONING
-
Heat 1 teaspoon of ghee in pan, and add Cumin seeds when the ghee is hot. Once the cumin seeds begins to crack add the curry leaves and hing and fry for a minute. Add this to the Sambar
Ratna Cafe Style SAMBAR READY!!
-
Phew... ! The flavorful, colorful Sambar is ready to serve !. Enjoy this with Idli / Dosa or with a hot rice
