Slice vegetables and keep aside. Clean toor dal by adding adequate water.

Based on the required consistency, we can adjust the water. But while boiling dal, we add two cups of water for each cup of dal.

Add little oil, turmeric powder and tomatoes to dal and pressure cook for 4 whistle blows.

While dal is being cooked, cook vegetables separately.

Place vessel based on the quantity of sambar recipe you are planning to make. Add bottle gourd, onions, carrots, drumsticks, green chillies, coriander leaves and curry leaves.

Sprinkle a little salt, turmeric powder, a pinch of asafetida and water.

Cook all ingredients with lid covered on medium flame.

Soak tamarind for a while and extract its pulp.

When veggies are half cooked, add ladies finger.

Check drumsticks, if they are cooked then add tamarind pulp and dal paste.

Quantity of salt differs based on the vegetables so it’s a good idea to check it at this point.

Sprinkle red chilli powder based on the spiciness you prefer as we have already added green chillies.

Add jaggery and stir slowly till it melts if needed add more water based on the consistency you prefer.

Put sambar liquid by adding little water to sambar powder. We can even sprinkle sambar powder directly but it forms lumps.

Add above the liquid to the sambar recipe and cook on low flame till you get your required consistency.

For tempering, we can add oil or ghee. Heat oil in a pan and fry mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds.

Once mustard seeds start spluttering add crushed garlic cloves, dry red chillies and curry leaves.

When curry leaves are added, oil tends to splutter. Take care while adding them.

Add temper to sambar recipe and garnish with coriander leaves.