Mini Idli Sambar – Ghee Sambar Idli Recipe – Hotel Style 14 Idli Sambar

• Idli dosa batter – 2 cups
• Rice flour -1.5 tsp( optional)
• Water & salt – add only if needed
• Oil – to grease
• Ghee – to serve

For sambar

• Toor dal – 1/2 cup
• Turmeric powder – 1/8 tsp
• Hing/Asafetida – 2 pinches
• Cooking oil – few drops
• Ripe tomatoes – 3 nos ( Do not chop)

To roast & grind

• Cooking oil – 1 tsp
• Dhania/Coriander seeds – 2 tsp
• Chana dal – 1 tbsp
• Red chillies – 2 nos
• Methi seeds – 1/4 tsp
• Grated coconut – 2 tbsp ( 2 small finger size pieces)

To saute in oil

• Cooking oil – 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Jeera/Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Hing – few pinches
• Small onions – 10 nos
• Curry leaves – few
• Sambar powder – 1/2 tsp
• Salt & water – as needed
• Jaggery – a small piece

For topping

• Coriander leaves – for topping
• Finely chopped big onion – 1 no ( for topping)
• Ghee – few tsp to drizzle on top

• Pressure cook toor dal adding turmeric powder, hing, whole ripe tomatoes( I don’t chop tomatoes because dal may not turn mushy) and a drop of cooking oil. 
• Cook for one whistle in very low flame adding 2 cups of water (If you wish, You can add drumstick and other vegetables in a bowl and cook separately inside the cooker). Remove the lid and mash the dal with tomatoes using a whisk.

• Peel and chop onions. Heat oil in a kadai and roast all the ingredients given under “to roast and grind” in medium flame till the dals turn golden. Make sure u don’t burn the dhania seeds. Lastly add the coconut , mix well and switch off the flame.
•  If using pieces of coconut, just add it at the beginning and roast it along with dals. Grind everything to a fine powder and set aside. Mix this powder with the cooked & mashed dal.

• In the same kadai, heat oil and temper mustard, jeera. Saute small onions, curry leaves. Add a cup of water, sambar powder, required salt, jaggery, turmeric powder, hing and cook the onions well.

• Add the cooked dal + ground masala powder mixture to the sambar and add 1/2 cup of water to adjust the consistency. Boil well for few minutes till you get a nice aroma.
• Switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves. Transfer the sambar to a vessel and add 2 tsp of ghee. Keep it closed and give a standing time of 30 minutes to 1 hour for all the taste to blend well.

• To make mini idlis, take 1 cup of idli batter and add 1 tsp of rice flour if you want to thicken the batter. Mix well . Grease the mini idli stand with oil and spoon the batter in each hole. Steam in idli pot for 10 minutes till they are done. Keep it in a hot box/ Casserole till serving.
• While serving, reheat the sambar. Take a small bowl and pour 2 ladleful of sambar. Put the idlis, add few tsp of ghee, finely chopped coriander leaves, onions and serve hot.

Enjoy !

• I have not used vegetables here. If you wish to add some veggies, take the chopped carrot, drumstick, potato in a small bowl and pressure cook with dal by keeping the bowl inside the cooker.
• You can also saute the finely chopped tomatoes along with onions instead of pressure cooking with dal.
• Adding jaggery gives a nice sweet taste to sambar. U can replace the jaggery by adding few pumpkin pieces to add natural sweetness.
• If you want to make this sambar in a simple way without grinding masala, add 1 tsp of sambar powder and 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder while cooking onions.