An essential dish in any Indian feast is Sambar, a simple but delicious staple. Being a South Indian, this is one dish that is mandatory to know to cook. It is an extremely versatile dish that can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. For festivals like Onam, it is the star of the sadhya. If the sambar is bad, all the other dishes fall short. Even being a staple, it was a challenge to master it.
There are many different versions, like my grandmother used to make which was thicker with lots of fried coconut. For me, the inspiration came from my uncle who lived in Tamil Nadu and talked about the quality dropping across the border in Kerala. I took it as a challenge asking cooks, aunts and family friends, whenever I came across a great sambar. It is also a dish that needs to be made in bulk, and I always keep a portion of it in the freezer to have later.
How to make sambar in 3 steps?
- Wash and cool dal / lentils.
- Add vegetables, coriander leaves, sambhar powder, tamarind water and cook.
- Temper curry leaves, dried chillies and mustard.
What to serve with sambar?
A quintessential dish for sadhya which is served for celebrations. Serve with idli and dosa for breakfast. For a light meal, serve rice with sambar along with fried sardines.
For a twist on the sambar, check out my invention, the chicken sambar!
Sambar – Essential Indian Staple
Ingredients
Sambhar powder
Temper
Instructions
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Wash lentils three to four times. Soak in 3 cups of water for 15 minutes. Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp turmeric. Pressure cook until first whistle. Simmer for 2 minutes. Switch off. Wait for 2 minutes, then release the pressure and open the lid. Lentils should be 3/4th cooked.
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Meanwhile prepare the vegetables. Cut lady's finger and drumstick into 2" long strips. Cut brinjal and carrots into 1" cubes. Cut tomatoes into 2" cubes. Cut shallots in half.
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Fry shallots and lady's finger / okra in coconut oil with 1/4 tsp salt and keep aside.
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Add drumstick, carrot, brinjal into lentils and cook until carrots are almost done. Now add fried shallots and okra and cook for a few minutes. Add tomatoes, half of coriander and cook until tomatoes are mushy.
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Meanwhile, prepare sambar powder. In a pan, fry freshly grated coconut until brown. Keep aside. In the same pan, heat the other ingredients listed under sambhar powder and grind with coconut until fine.
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Add ground sambhar powder and boil for a few minutes. Add water according to the consistency needed. Note with sambhar will thicken as it cools.
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Soak tamarind in warm water. Strain the pulp and add to lentil veg mix. Cook for a few minutes. Adjust salt and sourness according to taste.
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Add rest of the coriander leaves, boil. Add tiny piece of jaggery to balance the tanginess. Take off the flame.
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Heat coconut oil, splutter mustard, add chillies, curry leaves and pour over sambhar.
Note
Storing - Sambhar can be frozen upto a month in airtight containers. Once sambhar cools to room temperature, transfer to small containers and freeze. To use, thaw, reheat on stove top on low flame and temper.
Sambhar powder - Recipe for sambhar powder can be scaled up and stored in the refrigerator for upto a month.
Fried coconut - Coconut can be fried and stored in the refrigerator for upto a month. Fried coconut can be added to roasted spices and powdered to make sambhar powder.
Asfoetida - If you are not a big fan of asfoetida, avoid using the solid asfoetida and instead, add a pinch of asfoetida powder directly to sambhar at the end.
Frying the Sambar powder - If you are using refrigerated sambhar powder for making sambhar. Fry it with a tbsp of coconut oil before adding.
