Sambhar Recipe – The most flavourful South Indian lentil and mix vegetable stew made using special spice powder. This sambar dal is a great side dish for soft idli, vada, dosa.

The combination of vegetables I go for is, drumsticks (moringa), yellow pumpkin, radish and brinjal. And, I particularly make sure never ever to skip radish and drumsticks.

The good news is that, you can make sambar either with any one of the vegetable you like or a mix of two or three or more. So, sometimes I do cook drumstick or radish sambar and it tastes real good, it gives me instant joy and I can lick off the plate. 😀

Here's what you can opt to go for alone or in combo :

Drumsticks, eggplant, yellow pumpkin, white pumpkin (ash gourd), radish, carrots, beans, okras, raw plantain, yellow cucumber, potatoes, ivy gourd, snake gourd, bottle gourd or whatever other vegetables you like.

* You can also use little amount of bitter gourd as well, but only if you like.

Remember that the taste of the sambar also depends on the combination of vegetables you use. So, do the selection accordingly. BUT, I would highly recommend do not miss adding radish the recipe.

You can also add green leafy vegetables to the sambar. BUT, do not skip tomatoes and pearl onions (or regular onions). Avoid onions only if you are going ahead with Sattvik sambar preparation.

How To Make Sambar

Start off with cleaning and washing the toor dal. Then, add washed and strained dal in pressure cooker along with 2 cups of water and pressure cook until done. Once dal is done, mash it and set it aside.

In another pot, heat oil. once the heats up, add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds fry until just aromatic. Ensure not to burn the seeds. (photo 2)

Add curry leaves and dried red chillies and fry for few seconds. Then, add hing (asafoetida) and mix. (photo 3)

Add sambar onions (pearl onions/shallots) and sauté on high for a minute or 2 until soft. (photo 4)

Now, add the vegetables and sauté on high for a minute. (photo 5)

Add chopped tomatoes and sauté on high for another 2-3minutes. (photo 6)

Then, add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, sambar powder and mix. Sauté on medium heat for a minute. Take care not to burn the masalas. (photo 7)

Now, add boiled and mashed dal and salt along with a cup of water and bring it to a boil. (photo 8)

Add tamarind pulp, chopped coriander leaves and some more water depending upon the consistency you need. (photo 9)

Mix everything and simmer until vegetables are cooked through but intact. I simmer it for good 8-10 minutes to bring out the flavours to the fullest. (photo 10)

Dish out and serve hot sambar with steaming hot idli or vadas or steamed rice.