PEARL ONION SAMBAR is the most popular sambar in Tamilnadu. For taste, aroma, and nutrients no other lentil preparation can come anywhere close to sambar with pearl onions. I get frozen pearl onions. (It would not hurt my eyes). Pearl onions were stir fried in sesame seed oil that was seasoned with asafetida, fennel, methi and curry leaves. Right now, my curry tree is in my kitchen. I made sambar with onions, tomatoes and toor dhal that was cooked in a pressure cooker. Cooking lentils in pressure cooker is the healthy way of cooking as steam under pressure destroys the inflammatory compound lectin present in lentils. I made a paste with dry roasted black pepper corns, urud and chanadhals, coriander and poppy seeds and dried red chilies.