Sambar

Soup

Sambar is a South Indian lentil and mixed vegetable stew which is comfort food at its best. This classic dish tastes heavenly - once you taste it, you will crave more. This traditional sambar is healthy, packed with protein, super flavourful and loaded with vegetables, spices and herbs. It is best served with rice, soft idli, plain dosa, crispy medu vada or rice sevai. This is my favourite dish from childhood.

Serving size

4

Difficulty

Medium

Ingredients

Vegetables — 10 shallots/1 onion, diced — 1 drumstick, chopped — ¼ pumpkin, diced — 1 potato, diced — ½ pepper, chopped — 2 tomatoes — 1 carrot, thinly sliced — 4 ladies' finger, chopped — 1 cup toor dal (yellow lentils) — 1 lump of seedless tamarind — 1 tbsp coconut oil — Salt to taste

Cooking Time

60 min

Intensity

Medium

Sambar Spices — 4 tsp whole coriander seeds — ½ tsp urad dal — ½ tsp toor dal — 1 dried red chilli — 1 tsp peppercorn — 2 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder, for colouring — 1 tsp asafoetida — ½ tsp fenugreek seeds — ½ tsp cumin seeds

Seasoning — 1 tsp mustard seeds — ½ tsp fenugreek seeds — 1 dried red chilli — 6 curry leaves — Pinch of asafoetida

Allergens

–

Method

1. Soak 1 cup of toor dal (lentils) for an hour.

Then wash them thoroughly. Afterwards, cook the lentils in a pressure cooker with ½ tsp of turmeric powder and set aside.

2. Add all the vegetables, except the onion, to a clay pot or stainless steel pan.

3. In a blender, add the tamarind with 2 cups of water and blend. Strain the tamarind extract and pour over the vegetables with ½ teaspoon of turmeric and cook on low heat.

4. In a separate pan, heat 1 teaspoon of oil and add the shallot/onions and sauté until translucent.

5. Add half of the shallots/onions to the vegetables (sambar) and grind the remaining shallots/ onions with 2 tomatoes until a smooth paste forms and add to the mixture.

6. Add the cooked toor dal (lentils) to the sambar mixture and bring to a boil for 5 minutes, then turn down the heat. 7. In a pan, roast the fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns, urad dal and ½ teaspoon of toor dal until golden red in colour.

8. Add the whole coriander seeds and sauté until the aromas release.

9. Add the mixture to a blender with the Kashmiri red chilli powder, asafoetida powder and 1 cup of water until a fine paste forms, then add to the sambar mixture.

10. Stir occasionally until all the ingredients blend well. Bring the mixture to a boil, add salt (to taste) and turn off the heat.

11. For additional seasoning, heat 1 teaspoon of coconut oil in a pan with mustard seeds and after the seeds crackle, add fenugreek seeds, one dried red chilli and curry leaves. Add this seasoning to the sambar mixture.

12. Serve and enjoy.