Thanks once again to Mahanandi for this wonderful recipe. Her blog is such an inspiration to me. I'm repeating it here in my casual "1, 2, 3" style as it's easier for me to refer back to when I'm ready to prepare this fragrant and easy-to-prepare Indian dish again.
When making this dish, be prepared for a marvelous surprise when you begin dry roasting the sambar spices -- your house will be filled with the most amazing smells. Even people who profess to not be Indian food aficionados in my household came to the kitchen with their proverbial tails wagging. "Something smells absolutely delicious!"
1. Prepare a sambar powder by dry roasting equal parts cumin, coriander, fenugreek seeds, chana dal, urad dal, and dry coconut. Place in a coffee grinder and blend until you have a powder. Set aside.
2. Pressure cook toor dal and water in a 1:2 ratio, mash into smooth paste. (Alternatively if you don't have a pressure cooker you can do what I do and boil the dal until soft, drain, and then mash.)
3. Meanwhile, in a large pot, combine 1 tsp oil, 1/2 tsp cumin, mustard seeds, minced garlic, and curry leaves. Sautee. Remove curry leaves. Add one diced onion until soft and lightly browned. Then add diced tomatoes and fresh okra.
4. Stir in 1 tsp sambar powder (or more to taste), 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp tamarind, and addition water. Add salt and chili powder to taste. Add mashed dal. Bring to a boil and then simmer until okra is tender.
Tips:
I appreciated Mahanandi's advice here to allow the cooked sambar to stand for 15-30 minutes before serving so that the flavors will completely mingle with one another. Have you noticed that some dishes taste better the next day after being reheated? The same circumstances/logic applies here.
My own tip is in regards to the use of fresh curry leaves. If you are lucky enough to have access to them, here's an excellent tip I picked up recently. Rather than pluck leaves and then later attempt to remove them individually, place a whole 'branch' to fry. This renders the process of removing the fried curry leaves much, mush easier.
When preparing your sambar spice mix, make as much as you'll need for the next week or so. In other words, if you'll be making another sambar during this period, make enough for this next batch. You will save yourself some time by setting a little aside.