Delicious Vegetable Sambar (Indian Stew)

Sambar is a South Indian stew. Sambar is one of the most popular traditional Indian dishes that is not only healthy and nutritious but also tastes delicious. It is believed that sambar provides a complete nutrition to our body as it is protein packed and nutrient dense. Basically a Lentil soup/ Strew/Sambar mixed with choice of vegetables and specially prepared spice powder known as sambar powder. Do not worry you can get it from our tapioca hidratada /Indian grocery Switzerland/ buy Indian grocery online.

It’s best enjoyed with rice, idli or dosa. Don’t let the list of ingredients intimidate you, it’s actually easy to put together. When we eat South Indian food in restaurants, my focus is always more on the sambar and chutneys than the idli and dosa. Because, if the Sambar is good in taste, we can eat it with whatever.

You cannot find a nice Indian restaurant. If you could fortunately, It’s usually tasteless and lacks flavor. So I compensate for the lack of it by making a good sambar at home.

Here I am going to give you the ingredients with steps it will be helpful to understand and prepare easily.

Ingredients and Directions

First of all, To Pressure Cook the lentil, add

• Lentil -1 cup 
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 teaspoon 
• Salt – 1 teaspoon 
• Water – 3 cups 

Cook for 5 whistles on medium-high flame, then lower the heat to medium-low and let it cook for another 5 to 6 minutes. Meanwhile,

Make a Tamarind Juice,

• Tamarind piece – 1 tablespoon 
• Hot water – 1/3 cup 

Soak tamarind piece in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes. Then strain the liquid using a strainer. You will get 3 to 4 tablespoons of tamarind water/juice. Set it aside.

For Cooking the Vegetable

• Oil – 2 teaspoons 
• Chopped eggplant – 1/2 cup 
• Diced carrots – 2 medium 
• Drumsticks – 7-8 
• Salt – as needed
• Chopped tomato – 1 medium size
• Water – 3 cups 
• Sambar powder – 2 tablespoons  
• Powdered jiggery – 2-3 teaspoons 
• Red chili powder – 2 tablespoons  

In a pan, heat the oil on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the chopped eggplant and cook for around 2 minutes. Add carrots and frozen drumsticks and salt and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the chopped tomato and cook for 1 minute. Then add around water and stir. Add sambar powder. Also pour jiggery powder, and the tamarind water that you had extracted earlier. Stir in the cooked lentil. Also add the red chili powder. Stir everything together and let the sambar simmer on medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes.

For Tempering

• Ghee or use oil – 1 tablespoon 
• Mustard seeds black – 3/4 teaspoon 
• hing (asafoetida) – 1/4 teaspoon 
• Curry leaves 10-15 
• Chopped cilantro – as needed

For the tempering, heat ghee (or oil if you want to keep this vegan), in a small pan on medium heat. Once the ghee is hot, add mustard seeds and let them pop. Then add the hing and curry leaves for stir for few seconds until leaves turn crisp. Pour tempering over the simmering sambar.

Serve the sambar hot with idli, dosa or rice!

Just one more step order these ingredients at our Indian supermarket Zurich/ Indian supermarket/ Indian shop Geneva.