1. Soak tamarind in hot water for about 10 minutes and extract paste from that after removing the dust particles.
2. Wash and keep red gram dal in pressure cooker after adding required water, a pinch of turmeric powder, asafoetida and a drop of oil.
3. Chop onions, pearl onions, tomatoes and green chillies and keep other required ingredients ready. Grind grated coconut, 2 pearl onion, 2 flakes of garlic, little curry leaves to a paste.
4. Wash and peel off the skin from parsnip and cut it into round shape and boil it for some 10 minutes and keep it aside.
5. Heat oil in a kadai, splutter mustard seeds, cumin seeds, black gram dal, curry leaves, red chillies, green chillies, black gram dal, bengal gram and onions.
6. Fry them for some time.
7. Then add tamarind paste.
8. Now add red chilly powder, coriander powder, little salt and mix them well, Boil it for some time.
9. Now add cooked vegetable and smashed dal.
10. Allow it to boil for some 10 minutes. Finally add the grinded coconut-onion paste.
11. This adds to taste. Add a table spoon of ghee and garnish with coriander leaves.
12. Hot parsnip sambar is ready to be served.
13. It can be had with white rice, idly dosa.

This recipe is called Pachai Parupu Sambar in Tamil.

Courtesy: http://tamilveg.blogspot.com/