Roasted Chile, Spice, and Legume Blend

There are as many sambhar masalas as there are kitchens in south India. This combination of roasted spices and legumes (yellow split peas in this instance) is used to flavor a thin stewlike dish called sambhar, often considered southern India’s signature dish. Normally when you cook legumes, you boil them in water until they are tender. But here they are roasted and then ground with traditional spices to create a blend of complex aromas and f