Kerala style sambar

5 from 2 votes

This Kerala style sambar has a tasty mix of vegetables, dal and spices. It's easy to make, comforting and full of delicious flavor.

Prep Time15

Cook Time45

Total Time1

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: approx

Calories: 170kcal

Author: Caroline's Cooking

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Ingredients

For dal

½ cup toor dal 100g yellow split peas/pigeon peas
¼ teaspoon salt approx, or to taste
¼ teaspoon turmeric or a little more, to taste

For vegetables

½ onion (or 1-2 shallots, depending on size)
2 cloves garlic
1 tomato
3 ½ oz eggplant 100g aubergine - 1 small
3 oz okra 85g, roughly 6
3 oz carrot 85g, 1 small
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon tamarind or similar amount paste/approx ½tbsp concentrate
½ cup water 120ml

For tempering

1 tablespoon vegetable oil (or coconut oil)
½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
6 curry leaves
2 dry red chilis
1 tablespoon sambar powder or more, to taste

Instructions

Prep ahead

Soak lentils night before, if using stove top method (see below).
If using a block of tamarind, soak the piece in the water while preparing everything else then drain out solids as you go to use later.
Dice the onion/shallot and garlic fairly finely then dice all of the other vegetables into small bite sized pieces.

For dal

For all cooking methods, rinse the toor dal well before cooking. Then use method below that suits best (note prep ahead if stove top).
If you have a pressure cooker, place the toor dal, salt, turmeric and 1 ½ cups water (360ml) in the pressure cooker and cook on medium-high until 4-5 whistles. If you have an instant pot, cook on high for 9 minutes, For both, allow natural pressure release.
If you are using stove top method, soak the toor dal in plenty of water overnight (water needs to be at least to 1 cup measure with the half cup of toor dal in jug). Then drain and put in a pot with plenty of water - around 1 ½ to 2 cups. Bring the pot to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for approx 45-50 minutes until very tender. Drain any excess water if it looks very watery.
Once lentils are cooked, set aside.

To cook vegetables (as dal cooking)

As the dal is cooking, warm the oil over a medium-high heat for the vegetables and add the onion and garlic. Cook for around 3-5 minutes until they have softened.
Add the carrot, stir then cover and reduce heat slightly. Cook for a couple minutes then add the eggplant, tomato and okra. Stir then cover again to cook a further 5 minutes or so, stirring now and then, until all the vegetables are tender but still hold their shape.

For tempering and finish

Once vegetables have cooked, add them to the lentils along with the tamarind water. Stir and cook the mixture a couple minutes while you prepare the tempering.
Warm the oil for the tempering over a medium-high heat, add the mustard seeds and cook a couple minutes so the seeds start to sizzle. Add the curry leaves and chilis, cook a minute or two more, then add the sambar powder. Stir then cook another minute, being careful it doesn't burn, then add the mixture to the dal-vegetable mixture.
Stir the mixture through, cover and cook a couple more minutes to allow flavors to mingle together then serve.

Notes

You can vary the vegetables to suit - I'd recommend you always use onion and garlic, but you can change the others. Pumpkin, potato, drumsticks are all common in there. Just be sure to let firmer vegetables cook a little longer, and softer ones less.

I have served this a little thicker than some recipes - if you prefer it more of a runny soup-like consistency, add more water as you combine the toor dal, vegetables and tamarind.

Depending on your sambar powder and how you spicy you prefer, you can also add some chili powder to this to make it more spicy.

Nutrition