Today morning as I was looking for vegetables to make lunch, found the radish I bought 3 days back. So immediately I decided it was Karnataka style moolangi sambar for lunch today. We love moolangi sambar or moolangi huLi at home, it’s my favourite!
The good news is that, there is no need of grinding a fresh masala always to make a delicious moolangi sambar. Using homemade sambar powder you can make a super tasty moolangi sambar and it is just as thick and aromatic as the freshly made one. See notes below if you want to add some fresh masala paste.
For this moolangi sambar, you can saute the radish with the shallots or boil it in water with little turmeric. Both versions turn out very tasty. For today’s version I made at home I saute’ed the radish whereas for the recipe I photoshot a few months back (yes few months in the drafts this!) I boiled the radish. So here goes the recipe!
Try more radish recipes, moolangi chutney, mooli paratha. More huLi/sambar recipes: vegetable kootu, sorekayi kootu, beetroot sambar, tiffin sambar, Mangalore southekayi huLi etc.
- ½ Cup toor dal/togari bele/pigeon pea dal/arhar dal
- 1 big or 300 Gm daikon radish/moolangi
- ¼ Tsp turmeric
- Salt to taste
- 1 small lime sized tamarind/hunase hannu/imli
- 1 piece jaggery/bella/gur
- 2 Tbsp sambar powder/huLi pudi
- Chopped coriander
- 4-5 shallots/sambar onions
- 2 finely chopped onions
- Few curry leaves
- 1 broken dry red chilli
- 1 Tsp edible coconut oil/cooking oil
- ½ Tsp mustard/saasuve/rai
- ¼ Tsp menthya/methi seeds/fenugreek
- Wash dal twice and renew the water
- Pressure cook dal for 1½ Cups water for 5-6 whistles
- Once pressure cools down, churn the dal and mash it, keep it aside
- Wash, trim the ends and peel the radish/moolangi
- Cut into small pieces, semi or quarter circles and slice the shallots/sambar onions
- In a small pan, take the chopped radish, add little water
- Sprinkle turmeric and salt
- Bring it to heat and let the radish cook
- Once the radish is cooked, keep it aside
- Meanwhile when the radish is cooking, squeeze pulp from the tamarind in 2 Tbsp warm water
- Let us make tadka, heat coconut oil in a pan
- Add mustard and let them splutter
- Next add methi seeds and broken red chilli
- Throw in a few torn curry leaves and fry
- Add the sliced shallots and fry
- Once the onions turn translucent, add chopped tomatoes and fry
- When the tomatoes turn mushy and soft, add sambar powder/huLi pudi
- Fry for a minute, add tamarind water and throw in the jaggery
- Pour ½ Cup water and bring it to light boil
- Add the mashed dal
- Also add the cooked radish along with the water
- Mix everything very well, adjust salt, remember it was already added once when radish was cooking
- Bring the sambar to a light boil
- Finish with coriander and serve hot with steamed rice/bisi bisi anna
If you want grind 3 Tbsp coconut with 1 Tsp dhania/coriander seeds for fresh masala and thickness of the sambar
Adjust sambar powder, tamarind and jaggery according to your taste
Moolangi Sambar Stepwise:
Wash dal twice and renew the water
Pressure cook dal with 1 1/2 Cups water for 5-6 whistles
Once pressure cools down, churn the dal and mash it, keep it aside
Wash, trim the ends and peel the radish/moolangi
Cut into small pieces, semi or quarter circles and slice the shallots/sambar onions
In a small pan, take the chopped radish, add little water
Sprinkle turmeric and salt
Bring it to heat and let the radish cook
Once the radish is cooked, keep it aside
Meanwhile when the radish is cooking, squeeze pulp from the tamarind in 2 Tbsp warm water
Let us make tadka, heat coconut oil in a pan
Add mustard and let them splutter
Next add methi seeds and broken red chilli
Throw in a few torn curry leaves and fry
Add the sliced shallots and fry
Once the onions turn translucent, add chopped tomatoes and fry
When the tomatoes turn mushy and soft, add sambar powder/huLi pudi
Fry for a minute, add tamarind water and throw in the jaggery
Pour 1/2 Cup water and bring it to light boil
Add the mashed dal
Also add the cooked radish along with the water
Mix everything very well, adjust salt, remember it was already added once when radish was cooking
Bring the sambar to a light boil
Finish with coriander and serve hot with steamed rice/bisi bisi anna
