Opinion: The complete concoction called "Sambhar"/"Kuzhambu"

When my friend and I were talking for only one and a half hours the other day, the topics were mostly around what she cooked and what I did. Suddenly, I was telling her how I find Kuzhambu or Sambhar like a complete concoction - in terms of health.

Well, it has vegetables, pulses - equate it to vitamins, protein. It has the following tastes - tangy, salt, hot and bitter. Bitter how??? Methi (Fenugreek) seeds that we put for tempering (tadka/thalichchu kottaradu) are bitter. If you add jaggery as some do, it has a sweet taste as well and according to ayurveda, we are supposed have all tastes for a balanced meal - this comes close. It also has little bit of cereal (my mom adds a little bit of Rice flour to it in the end). It has turmeric that is good for the brain. Tamarind has iron content. Mustard in tempering has a heat producing effect so do the chillies while methi is cooling! If you add coconut, then that is cooling as well. Whoever invented this is a genius! Rasam is not like this - at least not so many veggies and no methi to give that cooling effect.