Categories: basic cookingCurryDals - Lentil - Pulses.DinnerLunchVegetarian Food

Sambar (South Indian Curry)

Sambar is a South Indian lentil & mix vegetable soup that is eaten along with breakfast or meal as a side dish. Most people enjoy this with some hot SOFT IDLI, dosa, VADA or with plain rice. Sambar is an everyday dish that is made in most south Indian homes. Sambar is one of the most popular traditional Indian dishes that is not only healthy & nutritious but also tastes delicious.

Prep Time	Cook Time	Total Time	Servings
10 minutes	50 minutes	1 Hr	4

INGREDIENTS

¾ cup Toor dal (or split pigeon peas) (refer notes)
1 to 2 tablespoon TAMARIND or tamarind paste as needed
¼ cup Coriander leaves few with tender stalks – chopped
salt as needed
1/8 teaspoon turmeric (skip if your sambar powder has it)

Vegetables for sambar

12 to 15 shallots (or small onions) or 1 medium onion sliced, refer notes
1 to 2 vegetable drumsticks (or moringa)
2 to 3 Ladies finger (or okra, bhindi)
3 to 4 cubed red pumpkin pieces (optional)
1 green chili slit (optional)
1 medium tomato chopped

For sambar powder or use ready made powder

1 tablespoon coriander seeds (or daniya)
1 tablespoon Chana dal (or skinned split bengal gram)
1 teaspoon urad dal (or skinned split black gram)
½ teaspoon cumin (or jeera)
¼ to ½ teaspoon methi seeds (or fenugreek seeds)
4 to 5 red chilies (kashmiri or byadgi) (less spicy variety)

Tempering Ingredients

2 teaspoon ghee or oil
1 sprig curry leaves
½ teaspoon cumin (or jeera)
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
1 Pinch methi seeds or fenugreek seeds
2 pinches asafoetida or hing
1 Red chili broken (less spicy variety)

PREPARATION

Wash toor dal a few times in cooker or pot until the water runs clear.

Pour 2 cups water & pressure cook on a medium heat for 2 to 4 whistles depending on the brand of cooker. The dal needs to be cooked till smooth. It can even be cooked in a pot.

Wash all the veggies. Scrape the drumsticks lightly & rinse. Chop them to 2 inch pieces. Peel the shallots as well & rinse. Chop tomatoes & okra to 1 inch pieces. If using pumpkin peel the skin & dice them. Set aside.

Make sambar powder – Skip this if you have the powder

While the dal cooks, make the sambar powder. Dry roast red chilies, urad dal and chana dal until golden & crisp. Add coriander seeds & fry till aromatic. Remove to a plate.
Next add methi seeds and saute until slightly dark. Then add cumin, fry for a minute. Cool these and powder finely.

PROCEDURE

Pour 5 cups of water to a pot, add the chopped veggies. Cook on a medium flame until soft. The flavor & taste of sambar is good when the veggies are soft cooked as all the flavor comes out to the stock.

optional – You can also saute all the veggies in a tsp of oil until the flavor comes – for 3 to 5 mins. If using brinjal then saute it first for 3 to 4 mins to bring out flavor.

When the water turns slightly hot, transfer about ¼ cup hot water with a ladle to a separate bowl and soak tamarind in it.

When the pressure goes off, mash the dal to smooth. The dal needs to be very smooth otherwise it doesn’t taste good.
When the vegetables are completely cooked, add sambhar powder, turmeric & salt. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Pour the tamarind pulp, filter if you desire.

Add smooth dal, mix well to blend the dal with water. Bring it to a boil. Check if there is enough salt & sourness. If needed add more.

Add coriander leaves & stir.

TEMPERING

heat a pan with oil or ghee.

Add mustard, cumin & methi. When they begin to sizzle, add curry leaves, broken red chili. When the leaves turn crisp, off the heat add hing. You can also add 1/8 to 1/4 tsp of sambar powder to the hot pan.

Quickly pour this seasoning to the sambar. Stir well. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes for the sambar to become flavorful. Pour 2 to 3 ladles of sambar to the tempering pan and then pour back the flavoured remnant back to the sambar pot.
Serve sambar with rice or idli.

Milind G