Sambar
Sambar is a traditional South Indian lentil dish similar to a stew. It is made with Toovar dal, and a mix of vegetables with a unique spice blend called sambar powder. It is tempered with some whole spices, curry leaves and dried red chilies. It is an accompaniment to many other dishes like Dosa, Idli, Uthappam to name a few.
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- ½ cup Toor Dal, boiled and mashed
- 1 tbsp Oil
- 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
- 1/4 tsp Hing/Asafoetida
- 5-6 Curry leaves
- 2 Dry Red chilies whole
- 1/2 cup Onions/shallots chopped medium
- 1/2 Tomato
- 1/2 cup Dudhi chopped medium
- 1 Drumsticks 4 pieces
- 1 Carrots chopped medium
- 1 small Eggplant chopped medium, optional
- 1 tbsp Tamarind pulp if you use paste, use half
- 2 tbsp shredded fresh Coconut
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Red chili powder
- 2 tbsp Sambar powder
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Prep Work
- Prep: Wash lentils with water and soak them for few hours before boiling them. Boil them in fresh water. Discard the water it was soaked in.
- Chop vegetables in medium big chunks. Not too big, nor too small.
- Take lentils with 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker on medium heat. Boil it for 6-7 whistles. Let the pressure cooker cool down. Mash the dal with either a hand blender or with a whisk. It should look like a puree.
Cook the Sambar
- In a deep pot, on medium high heat add some oil. Let the oil heat up; add mustard seeds and let them crackle. As soon as it crackles, add asafoetida, curry leaves and dried red chilies.
- Add all the vegetables and cook them until they are slightly soft. Some vegetables will need more time, so I prefer to add them first and then add the rest that needs less time. Once the veggies look cooked, they should still have a bite and texture.
- Add spices like turmeric, red chili powder, salt, followed by Sambar powder. Give it a stir. Spices should not burn, if so, you can add some water.
- Add mashed lentils or dal. Add tamarind pulp.
- Add some water about 1 cup to adjust the consistency. Sambar is usually thick consistency or slightly thin based on personal preference. But it is not extremely runny consistency. Let it simmer for few minutes and it's ready.
- Serve it warm or piping hot with some idlis, dosa or Uthappam or Paniyaram. Sambar can be enjoyed with rice too.
Notes
- Boil dal until its mushy and make sure mash it.
- I use frozen drumsticks aka moringa. It does not need to be cooked. It gets cooked in the hot sambar.
- Do not overcook the vegetables.
- If Sambar turns out to be too tangy or spicy, add a tsp of jaggery or sugar to balance out. I do not add any sweetener.
- If you have gluten tolerance, then avoid asafoetida.