How To Make South Indian Sambar

With this simple recipe, you can make a flavorful, substantial, and healthful South Indian vegetable-lentil stew. Serve the sambar with South Indian snacks such as idli, dosa, medu vada, and uttapam, or simply with rice for a filling, comfortable lunch. Sambar is a lentil and vegetable stew from South India cooked with pigeon pea lentils, tamarind, and a special spice blend known as sambar powder. It is a famous and well-liked dish in many South Indian households.

How To Make

• It's always a good idea to soak the tamarind in water before starting to make sambar. Soak 1 tablespoon tamarind for 20 to 30 minutes in 13 cup hot water.
• After the tamarind has softened, squeeze it in the water itself. Remove the tamarind pulp and discard the strained tamarind.
• Half a cup of tuvar dal (100 grammes) should be rinsed several times in fresh, clean water. The lentils can be rinsed in a strainer. You can soak the lentils for an hour before cooking them for a faster cooking time.
• In a 2-litre pressure cooker, drain all the water and add the dal. Add 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder is also added.
• Add water and cook dal on medium heat for 7 to 8 whistles or 9 to 10 minutes.
• Rinse, peel, and cut the veggies while the dal is cooking in the pressure cooker. When making sambar, chop large vegetables that cook quickly, such as pumpkin, brinjals, okra, drumsticks, and so on.
• Make sure the vegetables aren't overcooked.
• Toss the cooked veggies with the tamarind pulp that has been prepared. If you don't have dried tamarind, use tamarind paste that has been packaged or bottled.
• After that, add 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of Sambar Powder and stir thoroughly. You can also add 12 to 1 teaspoon of jaggery powder at this point.
• Toss in the mashed dal.
• Mix thoroughly. If the consistency appears to be too thick, add more water. You may easily alter the amount of water to achieve a medium to thin sambar consistency. However, don't add too much water because it will dilute the flavours.
• Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat until it reaches a boil. Stir at regular intervals. When the sambar starts to boil, it will form a frothy layer on top.
• Cover and keep aside. Check the taste and add salt if required.
• Add 2 tablespoons of ghee in a pan and heat it on high flame.
• Add 10 to 12 curry leaves, 5 to 6 fenugreek seeds (methi seeds), and 2 pinches of asafoetida to the pan right away (hing). When adding the curry leaves, be careful because the oil splutters a lot.
• Fry until the curry leaves are crisp and the red chilies have changed colour.
• Add this tempering mixture to the hot sambar right away.