my moms sambhar

My Moms Sambhar…

My Moms Sambhar…

I know everyone would be wondering what am I doing, this same feeling had led me to this write-up, where I am expressing my cherished memories on my mom's sambhar.
My origins are from this super cool city Chennai, the state capital of Tamil Nadu. For people of Tamil Nadu, sambhar is the main dish across cuisines of Tamil Nadu, which is now world-famous due to its elegance & simplicity. The best part is where-ever I travel across India & during my overseas travel as well, I could get a glimpse of this superb dish sambhar. To many a people who think it is just an accompaniment to dosa or idly, for us dosa & idly are accompaniments to this Elixir.

Sambhar is a common noun but is no longer common amongst us, it is very much proper, as we do consider it to be proper. Any household in Tamil Nadu, which does not know how to cook this dish properly, we assume that they don’t know cooking.

Ever since my childhood, I have been tasting my mom's sambhar, the taste till date has remained intact. There is no written recipe to it, this unique taste has been passed on from generations to generations, the same way it has happened till now & will continue to spread its happiness, for all the hungry souls.

Till my late 20’s I had been very much at home, hardly we use to dine out, where we rule out the preference of sambhar, as this is a dish which is made very frequently at home. I had never appreciated my mom for the way she makes this delicious recipe. During my late 20’s where I started to travel frequently on and off, the kick of dining & experiencing different dishes was awesome, something great was missing in all those outdoor dishes. This took me so many years to figure out, my mom's sambhar was not available when I ate elsewhere.

There were a million occasions as all our celebrations & rituals were strictly vegetarian & sambhar used to be the killer dish, which used to dish out very fast. Never have I felt that this simple dish will hold close to my heart. My mom cooked this delicious dish within minutes, it is basically a combination of tamarind water squeezed out of the pulp by adding hot water to the fruit. Chilli powder, turmeric is added to the tamarind water and brought to a boil, where pre-cooked lentils are added to this boiling soupy liquid, with few tomatoes & veggies. Finally tempered with curry leaves & asafoetida, served hot with steamed rice, it’s crazy. It is a dish in itself, self-sufficient, you need nothing more to compliment it.

We have a wide variety of choices even a dash of pickle is heaven to sambhar lovers. Ask anyone in the south, which is the tastiest sambhar they have tasted till date, they start to think and can never finalize, the reason being their mom's sambhar is the best, across everyone. Even if you ask me, I too will be thinking which the tastiest sambhar I tasted was, but it is always my mom's sambhar.

For men it is different, since their beginning of time, it is always their mom's sambhar, later if you have a sister who tries to cook, it is again sambhar only, which they try to master, here comes the second taste of sambhar in your life. Years later when you get married, your wife starts to cook the third edition of sambhar in your life. Many years later if you are lucky, you have a chance to taste the sambhar prepared by your daughter. You will be surprised to see all the four will be similarly close & you’ll never be able to decide which the best is. As all men are men, all the four women are equally important in your life, the answer to this will be all sambhar are similarly close & all are equally good.

You never appreciate your mother for the delicious sambhar she had prepared for you, but you boast the same in front of your wife, why don’t you make delicious sambhar like my mom does. Where you again tend to miss the wonderful opportunity to appreciate your lovely wife on her soupy sambhar. When it comes to your daughter’s preparation of sambhar, believe me, it will be out of the world, though it may miss many basic ingredients, it still stands out, we suddenly start to feel the love towards our siblings, the same was the case when my little sister started to cook, well I felt it was not even supposed to be served, my dad enjoyed the full meal, without a word.

Fathers love is always a fathers love, and it can only be felt and not expressed by words. Had experienced all this while growing up, after me becoming a father started to realize, how beautiful life is. Well, there is still time to taste your mom’s sambhar and other dishes she prepares, appreciate her and see for the smile which comes out of satisfaction.

Appreciation is the oxygen for the soul, please take time while you dine to appreciate.

All views expressed are solely mine and not to hurt any personal feelings.

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