SAMBAR | Classic South Indian LENTIL STEW With Vegetables| Sambar Recipe

On today's menu is a South Indian classic, Sambar Dal. It is a lentil based stew, it's hearty, flavourful and it goes with literally everything. Rice, Idli, Dosa, you just name it. Sambar Dal can be made in many ways, but today I will show you the basic one which goes very well with rice. Namaskar and welcome to Curries with Bombi. Sambar Dal is made with Toor Dal, also sometimes known as Toobar Dal or Arhat Dal. It is actually split pigeon peas. I have soaked half a cup of Toor Dal for about an hour. You do not need to soak the dal, but I like soaking it because it cooks faster. Rinse the dal thoroughly before cooking. I always cook lentils or beans in a pressure cooker or instant pot because it saves my fuel energy. I added a teaspoon of turmeric powder and about a teaspoon of salt. Next about one and a half cups of hot water goes in. Lid on and pressure cook it for 15 minutes. If using a stove top pressure cooker, allow the cooker to come up to full pressure on high heat. Then lower the heat to low and set a timer for 15 minutes. After pressure cooking is done, switch off the heat and allow all the pressure to go down naturally and then open the lid of your cooker. With the back of a ladle, mix the dal well and it should look like this. Okay, moving on to the next step. Heat a pot over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of oil. Once the oil turns hot, lower the heat and add a teaspoon of black mustard seeds. Now the mustard seeds need to splatter or else they will taste bitter. Be careful that the seeds don't land on you. You can also put a lid on top. Once you see that happy mustard pop dance, add half a teaspoon of cumin seeds and a fourth of a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds, that is methi. You do not want the methi seeds to turn too dark because then they will turn too bitter so immediately add onions. Though I am using these small onions, you can also use regular onions. I added about half a teaspoon of hing, that is asafoetida. Do not worry if you do not get hing. Fry the onions on medium heat for a little bit and then add chopped tomato. Next, these are the veggies I will be using. A little bit of pumpkin, you can also use butternut squash. Daikon radish, carrots and this is drumstick. Drumstick is fibrous. You just chew it and get the juice out of it and discard the fibrous part. I buy frozen ones from Indian grocery store. But my friends, please do not worry if you do not get them. I also use frozen beans and also eggplant. You can use any veggies of your choice. Just do not use green bell peppers or cabbage. Okay, the hard veggies will go in first. I will be adding the green beans and eggplant later. I added a fourth of a teaspoon of turmeric powder. A fourth of a teaspoon of Kashmiri red chili powder which is optional. And next is the main ingredient that is about a tablespoon and a half of sambar powder. Sambar powder gives that beautiful flavor to this daal. You will get it at any Indian grocery store or it is also sold online. Give a quick stir and then add one and a half cups of hot water. Cover it on medium heat till the veggies are half cooked. Next add half a teaspoon more of salt and the eggplants join the party. Again cover on till all the veggies turn soft. Okay, in the meantime, let's prep another ingredient. Tamarind is used in this recipe. As always, I take the easy way by using tamarind concentrate. Buy something that has only tamarind extract in the ingredient list. Now my friends, I am not sponsored by this company but I always use this. Since it is a concentrate, you need just a heaped teaspoon or else the daal will get too sour. I added about two tablespoons of hot water and mixed well. Okay, the veggies have turned soft. So next the cooked daal tumbles down. I rinsed out my pressure cooker insert with a splash of water. Then add the tamarind concentrate. Some recipes call for jaggery. So I added two teaspoons of jaggery. You can also use light brown sugar or regular sugar. You just need that little hint of sweetness. Then add the green beans and I tear up a few curry leaves. My friends, there is no substitute for curry leaves. Just leave them out if unavailable at your place. And please do not worry. Cover on medium heat for about five to six minutes. Okay, after six minutes, I like doing a final tarka. You can skip this tarka step entirely. But since I will be having this with rice, I like doing this extra step. Heat two teaspoons of ghee in a pan. You can also use oil. Once the ghee turns hot, add a fourth of a teaspoon of mustard seeds. Once the seeds crackle, add a fourth of a teaspoon of cumin seeds and dry red chilies. Doesn't have to be these kind of chilies. Use whatever dry red chilies are available at your place. Finally, few more curry leaves into the oil and burst out with happiness. Immediately transfer this sizzling goodness into your dal. Add chopped coriander leaves and you are done. Sambar dal has this unique flavor that it gets from the sambar powder. It is a bit spicy combined with that tangy flavor from the tamarind. And that flavor wheel gets rounded up by just a kiss of sweetness which brings in a beautiful balance to all the flavors without being noticed. You can divide them in portions and it stores well in the fridge for about four to five days. Or it freezes very well. Please give me a thumbs up and I will see you next time. Bye bye.