South Indian Sambar Recipe

Name: South Indian Sambar Recipe
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 10 h
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 1 cup Split Pigeon Peas or Moong Dal Lentils; water; 4 cups water; ½ Teaspon Turmeric Ground; 1 Tablespoon salt; 1 Tablespoon tamarind paste; ½ cup water; 3 ounces pumpkin; 2 pieces eggplant; 6 pieces okra; 1 onion; 1 tomato; 1-3 piece green chili pepper; 2 Tablespoon Mustard Oil or Vegetable Oil; 1 Teaspoon brown mustard seeds; 12 piece curry leaves; 1-3 piece red chili pepper; ½ Teaspoon asafoetida; ½ Tablespoon ginger and garlic paste; 1 Tablespoon red chili pepper; 1 Tablespoon Coriander Seeds Ground; 1 Teaspoon salt; 2 Tablespoon Sambar Masala Powder; 2 cups water

User Reviews

5.0

9 reviews

Excellent

Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
1 hr 30 mins
Soaking Time
8 hrs
Total Time
10 hrs
Servings
6 servings
Calories
161 kcal
Course
Main Course, Breakfast
Cuisine
Asian, Indian

South Indian Sambar Recipe

Jonathan Green

Report

South Indian Sambar, all vegan with your choice of vegetables or lentils. Great for weight-loss, the stew/curry is low in calories.

Share:

I Made This!

Be the first!

Print

8 people printed this

Save this

Be the first!

Ingredients

Servings

To boil lentils

1 cup Split Pigeon Peas or Moong Dal Lentils *see Notes
water to soak
4 cups water to boil
½ Teaspon Turmeric Ground
1 Tablespoon salt

For the tamarind water

1 Tablespoon tamarind paste or Tarmaind pulp
½ cup water

Vegetables

3 ounces pumpkin
2 pieces eggplant aka aubergine
6 pieces okra aka ladyfinger/bhindi
1 onion large
1 tomato medium
1-3 piece green chili pepper fresh, optional

To temper spices

2 Tablespoon Mustard Oil or Vegetable Oil
1 Teaspoon brown mustard seeds
12 piece curry leaves fresh preferably
1-3 piece red chili pepper Kashmiri or any other
½ Teaspoon asafoetida aka Hing

Seasoning and liquids

½ Tablespoon ginger and garlic paste *see Notes to substitute
1 Tablespoon red chili pepper ground, can be Cayenne too
1 Tablespoon Coriander Seeds Ground
1 Teaspoon salt to taste can be skipped
2 Tablespoon Sambar Masala Powder
2 cups water

Add to Shopping List

Instructions

To boil lentils

Place lentils into a bowl and cover with water.
Allow lentils to soak overnight for about 8 hours. *see Notes to speed up the process.
Strain lentils.
Place lentils with water, salt and turmeric powder in a cooking pot. Cook lentils over a medium to high heat setting soft (This takes at least 40 minutes)

For the tamarind water

Pour water into a small pan and add the tamarind to it.
Gradually heat up water and stir/mix in tamarind.
Take from the heat and wait for the water to cool a bit.
Mix the tamarind in so that it dissolves. Strain tamarind and collect the tamarind water. Keep aside.

Prepare vegetables

Cut off pumpkin skin, the green ends from your eggplant and ends from your okra.
Cut pumpkin and eggplants into smaller cubes and okra into 1-2 inch long pieces.
Slice onion and dice tomato. Slit open green chili pepper.

To cook your sambar

Heat up a deep pan like the Indian Kadai (cooking pot or wok will do too) over a medium to high heat setting and pour in oil. Wait for the oil to get hot but don't allow it to smoke.
Throw in mustard seeds, curry leaves, whole red chili peppers and asafoetida. Temper (stir cook over high heat) for less than a minute or until you can smell the spices unfolding.
Reduce the heat a bit and add the sliced onion. Mix and cook onions tender.
Stir in ginger and garlic paste. Stir cook for a minute or so.
Season with red chili pepper powder and ground coriander seed powder. Mix and cook over a higher heat setting.
Add your vegetables, pumpkin, eggplant, and okra. Stir cook over high heat until they get a bit soft and they are coated with spices.
Make some space in your pan and add the diced tomatoes. Season with salt.
Cover your pan and cook the veggies soft for 5-10 minutes or a medium heat setting.
Uncover and mix up your vegetables.
Stir in your cooked lentils. Mix well and keep the heat over medium to high.
Pour in the water and prepared tamarind water. Season with sambar masala powder. Combine the ingredients.
Cook your sambar uncovered for at least 20 more minutes. You can leave it to simmer over a slow heat setting and a longer period of time too (the flavors would develope better).

Equipments used:

Notes

We used split moong dal lentils in the video. Most commonly sambar is prepared with dried split pigeon peas but you can of course mix lentils or switch them. You can also add split chana dal (split chickpeas. Dal means lentils in Hindi.
The lentils need to be soaked or else they will take longer to cook through. But you can speed up the process by skipping soaking and cooking the lentils in a pressure cooker until they are cooked through and soft.
Turmeric is added to the boiling process to bring out the flavors and to make the colors pop.
Tamarind paste or pulp can be used. It's easier to use pulp because it's already clear from fibers.
We choose pumpkin, eggplant, and okra for this sambar recipe because these vegetables are easily available anywhere but you can also add drumstick pods (moringa pod) if you can get it. Carrots can be added too or other vegetables such as turnips, kohlrabi, tender pigeon pea pods.
Okra normally gets a bit slimy when cut open, which is normal, but due to the addition of an acid (in this case tamarind), the slime will get dissolved.
We use a large purple onion but if you can get small tender white onions to use that. In Tamil Nadu they use small madras onion (yep that's how they are called).
Adding green chilis is optional. It adds little heat to the dish.
Mustard oil adds a nice nutty tangy flavor to your sambar. If you don't get that, you can use regular vegetable oil too, or sunflower or canola oil.
The spices are tempered which means they are fried in the oil to bring out all the flavors. This is a quick process, so don't over temper them because spices like mustard seeds can turn bitter if you temper them for more than say a minute.
Don't skip on the spices in this recipe. Each has a purpose and combined they make a sambar great. Asafoetida is a resin spice, it's unique and can't be substituted. Dried red chilis can be skipped but I recommend you use something like Kashmiri chilis, which are not that spicy hot. Thai dry red chilis are hotter than Kashmiri chili. Curry leaves should be used fresh only, but I know how hard it is to get them fresh outside India, so dry ones can be used to.
Ginger and Garlic paste can be substituted with finely chopped or grated ginger and garlic. The ratio is 2:1 Garlic:Ginger.
Sambar powder is a blend of ground spices, an Indian masala. It's essential in this recipe. Buy or make it from scratch.
Reheated sambar curry always tastes better, making this a great meal if you have leftovers.

Nutrition Information

Show Details

Calories 161kcal (8%) Carbohydrates 22g (7%) Protein 7g (14%) Fat 6g (9%) Saturated Fat 1g (5%) Polyunsaturated Fat 1g Monounsaturated Fat 3g Sodium 449mg (19%) Potassium 170mg (5%) Fiber 6g (24%) Sugar 4g (8%) Vitamin A 1491IU (30%) Vitamin C 51mg (57%) Calcium 51mg (5%) Iron 1mg (6%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 6servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 161 kcal

% Daily Value*

Calories	161kcal	8%
Carbohydrates	22g	7%
Protein	7g	14%
Fat	6g	9%
Saturated Fat	1g	5%
Polyunsaturated Fat	1g	6%
Monounsaturated Fat	3g	15%
Sodium	449mg	19%
Potassium	170mg	4%
Fiber	6g	24%
Sugar	4g	8%
Vitamin A	1491IU	30%
Vitamin C	51mg	57%
Calcium	51mg	5%
Iron	1mg	6%