Blend tomatoes, chopped green chilies and onions to a coarse puree; not too fine; you need a bit of texture in the sambhar.
Heat oil or ghee in a deep saucepan or kadhai and once hot, add the mustard seeds.
When the seeds start to splutter, add the methi seeds, curry leaves and hing. Fry on medium heat for a few seconds.
Tip in the tomato-onion puree along with some water, depending upon how thick or thin you want your sambhar.
Add sambhar powder and salt to taste along with a pinch of sugar (to balance the acidity and sourness of the tomatoes) and mix well.
Bring to a boil and once it comes to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat, garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with idlis (steamed rice-lentil cakes), dosas (rice-lentil savory crepes) or even parathas or puris. This tastes excellent with hot steamed rice with a vegetable stir fry on the side!
Enjoy!
This quick tomato sambar tastes best with country tomatoes; these are a bit sour and juicy and perfect to use in this side dish. If you cannot find it, use the regular tomatoes and just add a bit of tamarind paste or pulp or squeeze a tsp of lemon juice after removing from heat.
Blend the puree fine or coarse, depending upon your preference.
For extra texture, fry half onion in the seasoning before adding the puree and then make sambhar.
