Sambar is a south Indian dal or vegetable stew with lentils, tamarind, and a fresh-ground spice mix or sambar masala. Eaten with rice, dosa or idli, it makes a healthy, nourishing and delicious meal!
Table of Contents
What is sambar?
A sambar (also called kuzhambu) is a south Indian-style dal or lentil and vegetable stew. This is a bedrock dish of south Indian cuisine, eaten every day in many homes in south India, and especially in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Sambar usually has vegetables added to it, like pumpkin, small shallots, okra, eggplant, carrots, drumsticks (seed pods of the moringa tree), potatoes, etc., and you can make it with a mix of vegetables or with just one kind of veggie (like this onion sambar or white pumpkin sambar).
If you've been to a south Indian restaurant, you know sambar as one of the dipping sauces served with dosa or idli, alongside a coconut chutney. The restaurant version is usually watered down and often too spicy: rarely on a par with a fresh, homemade sambar.
I have two versions of sambar for you today: a simple one made with sambar powder, and a version made with a fresh-ground masala. Each is delicious, but in our home it's the fresh-ground masala version, called arachuvitta sambar, that is most beloved by my Tamil husband, Desi.
Why you will love this recipe
- Nourishing and filling. A sambar is chock-full of healthy foods, including lentils, vegetables and spices, and seasonings that include turmeric, red chili peppers, hing or asafetida, mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When you pair this healthy dal with rice or dosa or idli (which are made with rice), you create a perfect vegan protein with a side of healthy fiber and tons of nutrients.
- Delicious. Every dal is delicious, but a sambar is especially so. The spices and vegetables transform it into a truly gastronomic delight.
- Simple recipe. Making a sambar can appear to be a long process, but it is easy to master. Make it a couple of times and you will be turning out fresh sambar in under an hour, impressing family and friends!
- Soy-free, nut-free, gluten-free and vegan recipe. Not only is a sambar gluten-free, but it is usually paired with gluten-free foods, like rice, dosa and idli, keeping the entire meal gluten-free.
Ingredients
- Toor dal (tuvar dal/arhar dal/thuvaram paruppu/split pigeon peas). This is the dal typically used for this dish, but you can also use red lentils or masoor dal.
- Moong dal (mung lentils/payatham paruppu, optional). You don't have to use moong dal in a sambar but combining it with toor dal, as many Tamil cooks do, gives the sambar the perfect texture and flavor.
- Oil. Use any oil of your choice, including coconut oil, avocado oil, peanut oil, sesame oil or sunflower oil. Olive oil is not a good choice because of the high temperatures involved.
- Onions. Red pearl onions or Indian shallots are perfect in sambar, but these can be hard to source outside India. White pearl onions are not a good substitute because they are bland and sweet. If you can't find red pearl onions, use shallots or red onions, as I often do.
- Fresh curry leaves (karuveppilai). Curry leaves are integral to a sambar. Dried curry leaves are not a good alternative because they lack that fresh, aromatic flavor, but if that's your only option, you can use them here. Crumble them with your fingers before you add them to the pot to release some flavor.
- Tamarind. You can use tamarind pods or tamarind paste, sold at Indian grocery stores or online.
- Vegetables: Carrots, pumpkin or butternut squash, potatoes and drumsticks (moringa pods, not chicken drumsticks). Drumsticks are amazing in a sambar because they have a lot of flavor. You chew the pod to release the flavors in your mouth but don't actually eat the fibrous veggie. You can substitute any of the veggies above with eggplant, okra, green beans and sweet potatoes.
- Spices: Mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafetida (hing) and sambar powder. You can make your own homemade blend using my recipe, or buy it from the Indian grocery store or online. I use a tiny bit of sambar powder in my ground masala sambar as well for more flavor.
- Jaggery. This is an unrefined Indian sugar (similar to piloncillo) and it rounds out all the spicy, tangy, salty flavors in the sambar. You can use coconut sugar or any unrefined sugar as a substitute.
Ingredients for fresh-ground sambar masala
You can skip these if you are making the easy version with just sambar powder.
- Dried red chili peppers (kanja milagai). You can use byadgi or kashmiri red chili peppers from the Indian store. Arbol peppers are also a fine substitute but they can be spicier, so factor that in when you make the masala.
- Fenugreek seeds (methi dana or venthayam). A sambar has all of the flavors--spicy, salty, sweet, tangy and bitter. This is what makes it so delicious. The fenugreek adds that key bitterness, but use very little.
- Cumin seeds
- Black peppercorns
- Coriander seeds
- Uncooked rice. This helps thicken the sambar. Use any uncooked rice you have at home.
- Chana dal (kadalai paruppu).
- Onions. Red pearl onions are ideal, but you can use red onions as I did.
- Curry leaves
- Tomato. This adds lovely color and more tangy flavor to the sambar.
How to make homemade sambar with fresh-ground masala
Cook the dal
Place the lentils in a pressure cooker, Instant Pot liner or saucepan. Wash in a couple of changes of water.
Add enough water to the pan to cover the lentils by at least two inches. Stir in the turmeric powder.
Pressure cook the lentils for three whistles in a traditional pressure cooker or for 15 minutes in the Instant Pot on high pressure. If cooking the lentils on the stovetop, cook 30-45 minutes or until the lentils are very soft and mushy.
Mash the lentils with a wooden spoon or ladle. This is key to create the right consistency in a sambar.
Make the sambar masala
Place all ingredients for the fresh-ground masala in a small skillet or small pan, including a teaspoon of oil, coriander seeds, chana dal, dried red chili peppers, black peppercorns, fenugreek seeds and uncooked rice.
Fry the spices over medium heat until the coriander seeds and chana dal are a couple of shades darker and very aromatic. Remove the spices to a bowl or plate and set them aside to cool.
In the same skillet add sliced onions and a third of the curry leaves.
Fry until the onions are soft and beginning to brown. remove them to the bowl with the other spices.
Place all the ground masala ingredients in a blender along with the diced tomato. Add a cup of water.
Blend into a very smooth paste. Set aside.
Make sambar
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the diced onions and a third of the curry leaves and saute until the onions are soft, about 2-3 minutes.
Place the vegetables in the pot: drumsticks, carrots, pumpkin and potatoes. Add a cup of water to the pot, cover and let the vegetables cook 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Stir in a tablespoon of tamarind paste or all of the juice extracted from the tamarind pods and continue cooking five minutes (don't cover the pot this time).
Add the cooked dal and the fresh-ground masala to the pot.
Mix well and add salt to taste.
Stir in the sambar powder...
..followed by the jaggery. Bring the sambar to a boil and continue to cook for five more minutes. Add a cup of water or more if the stew is too thick. The right consistency for a sambar is not too thick but not too thin either. The vegetables should sink slightly below the surface, not rise to the top.
Tempering for sambar (tadka)
In a skillet, heat a teaspoon of oil. Add mustard seeds to the skillet and wait for them to pop and sputter. Add the cumin seeds, hing and curry leaves and fry for a minute.
Pour the tempering into the sambar and mix it in. Turn off heat. Check salt and add more if needed. Enjoy hot.
How to make sambar with sambar powder
To make the sambar with just sambar powder (and without the fresh-ground masala), add a diced tomato to the pot along with the tamarind. Add two heaping tablespoons of sambar powder to the pot after mixing in the dal. Taste and add more sambar powder to taste. Proceed according to the rest of the recipe.
Top tips
- Cook the lentils to a mushy and soft consistency. The lentils should not hold their shape in the sambar. The vegetables will add lots of texture to this recipe, so you want the dals to create a smooth, creamy base.
- Use lots of curry leaves. Curry leaves add wonderful flavor to sambar. I use it at three different stages in this recipe.
- Tweak the spice level to your taste. I use two or three dried red chilli peppers because Desi can't tolerate too much heat. If you like your food spicier, you can add up to 10 chili peppers (do so with caution, though, and make sure you know how spicy the type of chili pepper you are using is).
- Use the stock from the dal. In my pressure cooker the lentils appear to use up most of the water, but if you have more liquid left in the lentils after they have cooked to the right consistency, don't throw it out. It is full of flavor. Add it to the sambar with the dal and just use less water.
Recipe FAQs
Sambar can be made with toor dal alone, but adding moong dal helps thicken the sambar and gives it a better consistency. Adding two dals also improves the flavor and nutritional value of the sambar.
Sambar is eaten with basmati rice or with any type of idli or dosa, including traditional idli, rava idli, dosa, quinoa dosa, jowar dosa, brown rice dosa or adai.
You can find all ingredients needed to make a sambar at an Indian grocery store, or online. I will leave affiliate links to the ingredients in the recipe box, but you will get better prices at the Indian store.
Storage instructions
- Refrigerate: Store the sambar in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days.
- Freeze: Sambar can be frozen for up to three months, in a freezer-safe container.
- Reheat. Reheat the sambar (thaw first if frozen) in a saucepan or in the microwave until heated through. Sambar tastes best hot or warm.
More south Indian recipes
Sambar Recipe
Equipment
- Large pot or dutch oven
Ingredients
- ½ cup toor dal (split pigeon peas)
- ¼ cup moong dal (optional)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon oil (Use any oil of your choice. I used avocado oil).
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 medium red onion (diced. You can also use a large shallot or 10-12 red pearl onions).
- Salt to taste
- 2 medium carrots (cut in a ½-inch dice)
- 10-12 pieces drumsticks (Moringa seed pods. If using frozen, no need to thaw first. If you have access to fresh drumsticks, use 2 drumsticks, trim the ends and cut into 2-inch pieces).
- 2 cups pumpkin (or butternut squash, cut in a ½-inch dice)
- 2 medium red potatoes or yellow potatoes (cut in ½-inch dice)
- 1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate (or 1 small-lemon-sized ball of tamarind, soaked in ½ cup warm water for 30 minutes. Squish the tamarind pods with your fingers to release the pulp, strain out the tamarind pulp and water, and reserve. You can discard the tamarind pods).
- 1 teaspoon sambar powder
- 1 teaspoon jaggery (or unrefined sugar)
For fresh-ground masala
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 3 tablespoons coriander seeds
- 2-3 dried red chili peppers
- 1 tablespoon chana dal
- ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds (methi)
- 2 teaspoons uncooked rice
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 small red onion (or 1 shallot, sliced. If using red pearl onions, use 10-12 pearl onions, whole).
- 2 sprigs fresh curry leaves
- 1 medium tomato (diced)
For tempering (tadka)
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon hing (asafetida)
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
Instructions
Cook the dal
- Place the lentils in a pressure cooker, Instant Pot liner or saucepan. Wash in a couple of changes of water.
- Add enough water to cover the lentils by at least two inches. Stir in the turmeric.
- Pressure cook the lentils for three whistles in a traditional pressure cooker or for 15 minutes in the Instant Pot on high pressure. If cooking the lentils on the stovetop, cook 30-45 minutes or until the lentils are very soft and mushy. Mash the lentils with a wooden spoon or ladle.
Make the fresh-ground sambar masala
- Heat a teaspoon of oil in a skillet. Add coriander seeds, chana dal, dried red chili peppers, black peppercorns, fenugreek seeds and uncooked rice.
- Fry over medium heat until the coriander seeds and chana dal are a couple of shades darker and very aromatic. Remove the spices to a bowl or plate and set them aside to cool.
- In the same skillet add sliced onions and a curry leaves. Fry until the onions are soft and beginning to brown. remove them to the bowl or plate with the other spices to cool.
- Place all the ground masala ingredients in a blender along with the diced tomato. Add a cup of water. Blend into a very smooth paste and set aside.
Make sambar
- Heat a teaspoon of oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the diced onions and a third of the curry leaves and saute until the onions are soft, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the vegetables to the pot: drumsticks, carrots, pumpkin and potatoes. Add a cup of water to the pot, cover and let the vegetables cook 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Stir in a tablespoon of tamarind paste or all of the pulp and juice extracted from the tamarind pods and continue cooking five minutes (don't cover the pot this time).
- Add the cooked dal and the fresh-ground masala to the pot. Mix well and add salt to taste.
- Stir in the sambar powder followed by the jaggery.
- Bring the sambar to a boil and continue to cook for five more minutes. Add a cup of water or more if the sambar is too thick. The right consistency for a sambar is not too thick but not too thin either. The vegetables should sink slightly below the surface, not rise to the top.
Make tempering
- In a skillet, heat a teaspoon of oil. Add mustard seeds to the skillet and wait for them to sputter. Add the cumin seeds, hing and curry leaves and fry for a minute. Pour the tempering into the sambar and mix it in. Turn off heat. Check salt and add more if needed. Enjoy the sambar hot.
Laki
Hi Vaishali
Love this recipe and many thanks more in your blog. Its really great to have access to so many vegetarian creations. Thank you very much. Take care. Laki
Jigna
This sambar was so tasty. I have made it before with a south Indian friend's recipe but this beats it. I didn't have the vegetable drumsticks but I used the small Indian brinjal instead. So yum.
Mary
What are these drumsticks that you cut into two inch pieces?
Vaishali
These drumsticks are Moringa seed pods, available in Indian stores. It’s already explained in the post.
Liz Gardener
Although this looks great, it seems to have chicken in it! Unless your definition of 'drumsticks" is different than mine. Help please???
Vaishali
I explained this in the post— they are Moringa seed pods. Chicken drumsticks would have no place in a vegan recipe.