Wash and put arhar dal (toor dal or pigeon peas) in a pressure cooker.
1/2 Cup Arhar Dal or Toor Dal (split Pigeon Peas)
Peel the bottle gourd (lauki or sorakkai). Chop it into 1 inch sized pieces and add to the cooker.
1 Bottle Gourd (Sorakkai or Lauki)
Add turmeric powder (haldi) and salt to the lauki & dal.
1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder (Haldi), 1 Teaspoon Salt
Now add 3 cups of water to the cooker and close the lid.
Cook the mixture till you get 2 whistles. Then let the steam come out on its own before opening the cooker.
You can start preparing the tempering while the dal is cooking. Heat oil in a pan and add rai (black mustard seeds) and urad dal (split & skinned black gram) to it. Also add heeng (asafoetida).
1 Teaspoon Rai (Black Mustard Seeds), 1/2 Teaspoon Urad Dal (split & skinned Black Gram), 1/8 Teaspoon Heeng (Asafoetida)
When the rai starts to sputter and the urad dal starts to brown slightly, add chopped onions to the pan.
1 Medium Sized Onion
Add curry leaves and finely chopped green chillies to the pan.
8-10 Curry Leaves (Kari Patta), 1-2 Green Chillies
Also add whole dried red chillies (sabut lal mirch) and cook for a minute.
2-3 Whole Dried Red Chillies
Add finely chopped tomatoes to the pan. Cook till they becomes soft.
2 Tomatoes
Now add red chilli powder and sambar powder to the pan. Mix well and cook till the mixture starts to leave oil on the sides.
1 Teaspoon Red Chilli Powder, 2.5 Teaspoons Sambar Masala
Add tamarind (imli) paste to the gravy. To make tamarind paste, you can soak 1 tablespoon tightly packed tamarind in 1/2 cup of warm water for a few minutes.
2 Tablespoon Tamarind Pulp (Imli Paste)
Mix and cook the gravy for a few minutes.
Add the boiled arhar dal and lauki (sorakkai / bottle gourd) mixture to the gravy. Stir and add some water to adjust the consistency if required. Boil for a few minutes.
Sorakkai Sambar is ready. Serve it hot with plain steamed rice, idli, dosa, uttapam or vadas.