Sambar- South Indian lentil and vegetable curry

Sambar- South Indian lentil and vegetable curry

There are as many versions of sambar as there are stars in the sky J… Every south Indian will swear by their favourite one.  And my favourite is of course my mom’s sambar. It is a milder sambar with coconut gravy. You can omit the coconut here and make it a 30 minute curry. But the extra effort in frying and grinding coconut is so….. worth it.

You can buy the commercial sambar powder cook lentils and vegetables in it and call it a day. But here, we are making it completely homemade. This involves 3-4 different steps- Cooking lentils, getting curry paste ready, making the tamarind paste and prepping the vegetables.

First let the lentils cook in a pressure cooker. Combine dal, water, turmeric and asafoetida in a pressure cooker. Cook till first whistle and take off heat. Do not open till completely cooled.

Meanwhile peel and slice shallots and garlic. Heat oil in a heavy wok. Coconuts, sliced shallots, garlic, curry leaves and fenugreek seeds and fry over medium heat. Keep stirring often to prevent burning. When the mixture starts turning light brown, add the spices except asafoetida. Keep frying for 2-3 minutes in low heat. Take off heat and immediately mix in asafoetida. Let the mixture cool. Grind to a fine paste in a blender or a wet grinder adding enough water (I double the curry paste recipe to freeze one portion.)

Combine tamarind pulp and hot water. Let stand for at least 10 minutes. Sieve to remove the tamarind fibres. Prepare the vegetables as needed. Combine the sambar curry paste, cooked dal, tamarind paste and vegetables in a pressure cooker. Add more water if needed. Pressure cook till the first whistle. Take off and let cool. Heat the oil for tempering. Add mustard seeds. When they start spluttering, add curry leaves and red chillies. Pour the hot tempering into the cooked vegetable mixture. Your sambar is now ready to be served with idly, dosa, vada or rice….