Kerala Sambar Recipe
The Kerala Sambar Recipe is a humble yet delicious classic made with lentils, spices, and vegetables, similar to a thick lentil soup. Simple, authentic, comforting, and pairs best with rice, idlis, or dosas
Servings: 12 people
Calories: 215kcal
Equipment
- 1 Pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 2 cups lentils split pigeon (tuvar dal)
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 tomatoes medium sized
- 3 green chilies
- 2 cups mixed vegetables carrot, okra, brinjal, drum stick, beans
- 2 tbsp spiced powder sambar masala powder
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1.5 tsp red chili powder
- ¼ tsp asafoetida
- 1 tsp salt
- 1.5 cups tamarind extract from lemon-sized ball of tamarind soaked in lukewarm water.
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- ¼ cup coriander leaves chopped
Instructions
- Wash the lentils and transfer to a pressure cooker
- Add chopped onions, green chilies, tomatoes and the vegetables like drumstick and carrot that take longer to cook
- Add spices, salt and water
- Pressure cook for about 3 to 4 whistles
- Extract tamarind juice from a lemon sized tamarind ball
- Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and dry red chilies
- Add chopped onions or shallots, asafoetida, and tender vegetables like okra and brinjal
- Saute well and add the tamarind extract and cook until the raw smell disappears.
- Once the lentils are pressure-cooked and the pressure is released , add the vegetables cooked in tamarind extract and mix in well.
- Add curry leaves and chopped coriander leaves
- Temper with mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and dry red chilies (optional)
Video
Notes
- It is preferable to use lukewarm water when extracting tamarind juice as it helps release the juice and pulp more easily.
- Homemade sambar masala adds an authentic taste. It can be easily prepared by dry-roasting and grinding coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin, dried red chilies, black pepper, and lentils such as black gram, chana dal, and tuvar dal. That said, a good-quality store-bought sambar powder works well too.
- Adjust the quantity of tomatoes and tamarind extract based on how tangy you like your sambar.
- You can choose to skip the final tempering since the vegetables are already tempered with mustard and fenugreek and sautéed with spices.
- Mashing the cooked lentils for a thicker consistency is optional. You can also leave them mostly intact and soft for a slightly more textured sambar.
- Use pearl onions when sauteeing with vegetables to get an authentic taste. A trick to easily peel the pearl onions is to soak them for a few minutes in hot water.
Nutrition
Serving: 50g | Calories: 215kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 261mg | Potassium: 626mg | Fiber: 13g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 1842IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 4mg
