Sambar is a famous South Indian side dish. It is like a vegetable stew cooked with all kinds of vegetables, lentil, asafoetida, sambar powder, and a final touch of tamarind broth. All these ingredients make sambar healthy, creamy and delicious. Altho you can choose any vegetables you want, lentil and drumsticks are must-have ingredients for sambar. Finally, sambar is seasoned with mustard seeds, shallots, dried red chile, and curry leaves. This brings out the mouth-watering aroma of sambar. It is also my mom’s recipe that was admired by many family members.
Since all the vegetables and lentils are added to the curry I don’t have to explain the health benefits of sambar. It is just filled with all kinds of vitamins and minerals. Lentils are low in calories and high in nutrition, fiber, protein, it increases energy and helps with weight loss. Lentils are also good for your heart health. Sambar is served with doosa and edli for breakfast. It is served with rice or chappathi for lunch and dinner. Samar is a super healthy curry that you can serve with any meal.
Prep: 15-20 min
Cook:15 min
Yield: 7-10 servings
Ingredients
1/3 cup of Maysoor red dal or yellow dal
15-20 beans cut into long pieces
1-2 carrots cut into long pieces
8-10 pieces of fresh or frozen drumsticks
3 shallots, peeled and sliced
3-4 red chilly, broken in half
2 sprig curry leaf, washed and stemmed removed
3 tablespoon coconut oil
1. soak a small lime size ball of tamarind in water
2. In a large pot, on medium flame, cook dal in 2 cups of water.
3. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook until the dal is soft.
6. Bring up the flame to medium and add drumstick pieces, add more water if needed. The water should always be two inches above the ingredients.
7. Cut the carrots and beans into long pieces and add this to pot. Add more water if needed
8. Add curry leaves, and jalapeño papers
9. Peel the potatoes and cut it into cubes and add this to the curry with water two inches above
10. Cut tomatoes into pieces and add this to the curry
11. Peel and split the shallots in half and add this to the curry and let it boil. Make sure the water stays two inches above the ingredients.
12. Add asafoetida powder, and boil
13. squeeze the soaked tamarind with your hand and use a filter to strain the tamarind water into the sambar until the water almost runs clear.
14. Add sambar powder, mix well, let the sambar come to a boil and turn off the stove
1. In a small pan, heat oil
4. Add this into the sambar, mix well, and cover it for few minutes to bring out the flavor.
5. Sambar is ready to be served with warm rice, doosa, edli, or chapathi.
