This is our last week before the spring break so make your presence felt at Sambar! Thank you all for your support.

And our menu for MARCH 6th is:

Adai (pronounced aa- day) - $4.00
- with the powers of all lentils and rice combined this has all the makings of a nutritious crepe

Pesarattu (pronounced pess- aa- rat- oo) - $5.00
- a more mellow version of crepes that inherits a verdant aura from lush green lentils

Tomato rice - $3.00
- Tomato and rice blended together with a rich selection of Indian spices.

Potato curry
- a mildly fried potato dish with a panache that comes from its many spices

Chowchow kootu
- Chayote squash plattered onto a lentil base with the distinct aroma of cumin seeds and coconut

Sambar
- a soup made of lentils and mixed vegetables with a variety of spices, the kind of dish that makes me think, "would Sambar taste as wonderful if it were called by any other name?"

Homemade yogurt - $1.00
- Nostalgia grows with fermentation

Chickpea salad - $1.00
- a mix of beans sauteed with garnished with coconut and mustard seeds

Pappad
- Indian nachos

Paruppu payasam - $2.00
- a unique dessert that puts the multi- talented lentil to good use.

Thaali - $6.00
- the thread that ties together white rice, sambar, chowchow kootu, potato curry, chickpea salad, yogurt and pappad.

Sambar - its all about bringing South India to Champaign!

Plain Dosas - $3.00
- a crepe with a rice and lentil base that is served with Sambar (a soup made with lentils, vegetables and spices). For any South Indian, the world isn't an illusion, its simply made of Dosas!

Masala Dosa- $5.00
- a dosa with a stuffing of a spicy potato and onion mix.

Tomato Palak Dal- $2.00
- A spinach dish that would make Popeye envious

Brinjal Curry- $2.00
- A curry dish with eggplants, the kind of dish that makes an eggplant proud it was born an eggplant.

Rasam- $1.00
- a tangy soup with tomatoes and lentils. Though you wont get our secret recipe, here is a nice article that talks about Rasam (link)

Chickpea salad (a.k.a Sundal)- $1.00
- A mix of lentils and peanuts sauteed with coconut. Best consumed along the shores of the Marina beach in Chennai but Champaign will have to do for the moment.

Lemon Rice- $3.00
- the kind of dish for which any description would be overkill! It's unpretentious.

Coconut Halwa- $3.00
- coconut and Kerala brings up 615,000 hits on google. Trust me, they value this dish very much.

Thaali's will be available so you dont have to feel that you left out any of the above dishes!

Do email us, leave comments and support us! We would love to hear your views on how we are doing.

Put your taste buds on top gear as this weeks menu comes up!

Plain Dosa (x 2) - $3.00

Crepes a la south Indian style. Served with our trademark Sambar (a side dish made with lentils and other vegetables) and chutney (a relatively dry paste usually made with coconut)

Masala Dosa (x 2)- $4.00

Just add a spicy mix of potatoes and onions to the plain dosa and voila!

Vangi baath (pronounced vaan-gi baa-th) - $3.00

Amidst Bangalore's hi speed IT industry is a rice dish made with eggplant and other spices. Trademark Karnataka!

Chickpea salad (a.k.a Sundal) - $1.00

A mix of chickpea and peanuts sauteed with mustard seeds and garnished with coconut

Carrot Halwa - $2.00

A desert made with carrots.

Mango Drink- $1.00

Need I say more???

Homemade yoghurt- $1.00

Nostalgia grows with fermentation

And our very popular Thaali (which is an entree that has multiple dishes) - $6.00

White Rice, Sambar, Methi dal (lentils with spinach) , chickpea salad, valor bean curry, homemade yoghurt, pappad

Please let us know what's on your mind. You can leave a comment with requests for the menu or suggestions.

A Sam Bar Success!

Despite the weather conditions many people came to Sam Bar and enjoyed some South Indian food! Thanks for everyone who cam. Here are a couple photos:

We started Sam Bar early today so that customers could come while there was light. You can see with what difficulty we brought the food as well!

Brian was our first customer of the night!

And here you see our intrepid cooks making dosas for the night!

Thanks for all you who braved the horrendous weather to make it to Sam Bar! See you next week!

Through Rain, or snow, or blizzard,
Sam Bar is OPEN!

Sam Bar will start today at 4pm! And everyone gets extra dosas with your order!

UPDATE: WE WILL HAVE SAMBAR TODAY.

WE WILL START AT 4.00 PM and keep going for as long as we can.

Please call everybody you can and do turn up!

Any questions? Call Venu @ 908- 938- 7648

The weather is bad. We still are hoping to keep Sambar up and running. However we are also exploring other alternatives as well. Please check back on this website for further updates. If you have any questions please contact: Venu @ 908-938-7648

Asha for Education, Urbana -Champaign presents
Sam Bar 2007.

And finally the menu for our opening night is........

When: Feb 13th, 2007 - Tuesday- 6PM- 9PM
Where: Red Herring (corner of Matthews and Oregon)

Plain Dosa (link to what is a Dosa?) (X 2 )- $3.00

a South Indian version of crepes made with rice and lentils.
A few coconut trees in the background and some music from the region you wouldn't know where you were!

Masala Dosa (X 2 )- $4.00
- This version of the crepe has a stuffing of a spicy potato and onion mix

Pesarattu (pronounced Pess- arr- att- oo) (X 2 )- $4.00
- a crepe made with green lentils

Kallappam (pronounced Cull- upp- am) (X 2 )- $3.00
- Crepes with lentils and coconut

Mirchi Bajji (X 2 )- $2.00
- fried green chllies. Nothing more. nothing less.

Puliyogare (pronounced poo- li- yo- gar-e) a.k.a Tamarind rice - $2.00
- a flavoured rice dish with a tangy sauce topped with peanuts

Paalpayasam (pronounced paal- pai- sam) - $2.00
- prominently referred to as the king of sweets. This one is a 'I must have' dish! This is a dessert made with rice and milk.

Chickpea salad (a.k.a sundal) - $1.00
- a salad made with peanuts and garbanzo beans garnished with coconut

Homemade yogurt -$ 1.00
- No south Indian meal ever ends without homemade yogurt!

Mango drink - $1.00
- if the rest of the food makes you tired, this might help!

(Combos A,B,C, D are also available)

Do let us know what you think! You can leave comments and we will get back to you with any concerns you have. If you have any suggestions for improvements or dishes that you would like to suggest just drop us a line.

Asha Sam Bar had its preview show before our opening for the Spring semester on Feb 13th. Asha Sam Bar was really happy with the opportunity to reach out to a wider audience at the Asian American Cultural Center.

It was a really great event and for those who missed out the menu was:

Mango Halwa
- A dessert made with mangoes

Indian falafel
- a traditional south indian fried dish made with lentils and other spices

Chickpea salad
- not your regular salad by any means! It has to have that South Indian essence!

Aloo Paratha
- An Indian version of pancakes stuffed with a spicy potato mix

For all those who feel sad, despair not. Feb 13th ain't too far away!

Sam Bar is back this Spring and we really look forward to your continued support for the cause of ASHA- UC.
This semester, we start off on the 13th of February and of course we have everyone's favourite Dosas.

Please watch this space for menu updates.

If you would like to volunteer with any aspect of Sam Bar, please let us know when you swing by for one of our dinners. Volunteering could never have been a better experience!