Delicious Kerala Sambar Recipe

Try making this amazing sambar recipe to wow your family. Secret grandma tip included. Sambar with crispy masala dosa and coconut chutney is a world famous combination. You are guaranteed to find South Indian dosa food stalls that serve this combination even in Bombay and Delhi malls.

Sambar tastes wonderful with rice, dosa, idli, vada and even bread. I like thick versions, with my favourite combination of vegetables. Like with Aviyal, you can add any combination of vegetables you like. Yam, beans, ash gourd, pumpkin, ivy gourd and brinjal are various vegetable options that I have not added in the recipe. You can add them if you like. In my blog, I give you the actual recipes I make at home. We love potatoes, so we always add plenty of them. Still, when I search for potatoes in the gravy, the rest of the family would have already finished them. My second favorite vegetable in the sambar is the okra, so after potatoes, I search for the okra.

An easy and quick version of this recipe is given at the end with the tips.

Ingredients:

1.       Potatoes -2

2.       Carrot -1

3.       Onion -1

4.       Raw banana – ½

5.       Cucumber – ½

6.       Snake gourd – ½

7.       Ladies finger/ okra - 6

8.       Drumstick - 1

Grandma tip: Cut vegetables into even sized one inch cubes. Sauté these vegetables in 2 tbsp of coconut oil, adding a tsp of chilli powder and a pinch of turmeric. Add adequate salt. Cook till half done.

9.     Toor dal/ Thuvra parippu – ½ cup

10.   Shallots/ small red onion – 5

11.   Slit Green chillies- 3

12.   Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

13.   Salt – to taste

14.   Water – 2 cups

Pressure cook the dal with shallots, green chillies, turmeric and salt. Add this to the vegetable mix. Add more water if necessary.  Cover and cook till the vegetables are done.

15.   Tomatoes - 2

16.   Sambar powder – 3 tbsp

17.   Asafoetida – 1 tsp

18.   Tamarind – marble size

Add chopped tomatoes. Check and adjust salt. Add sambar powder and asafoetida. Add the tamarind soaked in 2 tbsp of water and made into paste. Mix well.

19.   Coconut oil - 2 tbsp

20.   Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

21.   Curry leaves - 1 sprig

22.   Shallots - 3

23.   Dry red chillies - 2

Heat coconut oil in a small kadai, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add remaining ingredients and sauté. Pour this over the sambar. Mix lightly. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Secret Grandma Tips:

•       Put 1- 18 ingredients in a pressure cooker and cook for one whistle. Pour the tempered coconut oil and garnish with coriander leaves. Simple and easy, sambar is ready.
•       Sautéing the vegetables adds a special taste to the sambar.
•       Though sambar powder contains asafoetida, you will still need to add about a tsp more, if want the authentic taste.
•       You can also add tomatoes, sambar powder and asafoetida to the tempering coconut oil and sauté it along with shallots, curry leaves and dry red chillies.