Madras Sambar

1.Soak some tamarind in water and make an extract out of it. Some people use the tamarind paste, but the regular tamarind used to extract the tamarind water makes the sambar to taste better.
2.Boil toor dal in a pressure cooker with a pinch of turmeric powder.
3. Take a teaspoon or two of oil.
4.Fry 1 teaspoon of Mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon of fenugreek seeds,2-4 red chillies, some curry leaves,a little asafoetida for taste in oil.
5.Add the tamarind extract to this and add sambar powder ( according to the spice level reqd)
6.Add salt to taste.
7.Allow this to boil for abt 10 min.
8.If some vegetables(onion/capsicum/drumstick/radish/lady's finger) are to be added - cut them to pieces and add them to this boiling mixture and allow them to boil together for about 15 min.
9.Add the boiled toor dal to this and allow to boil for about 5 min.
10.Switch off and serve hot with rice/idly/dosa.