Sambar recipe | South Indian easy drumstick sambar with video
Sambar is a lentil based vegetable stew served with plain steamed rice in South India and prepared by boiling vegetable with spices, tamarind, and cooked toor dal.
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 2 drumsticks
- 6 shallots or small onion
- Few curry leaves
- 1 tomato
- 1/2 lemon size tamarind
- 2 tsp sambar powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 cup cooked tur dal
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp crystal salt or salt as required
To temper
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1/2 tsp mustard
- 1/2 tsp jeera
- 1 tsp Methi /fenugreek seeds
- 1/4 tsp hing
Instructions
Preparation:
- Soak toor Dal for 30 minutes and pressure cook softly for 3 to 4 whistles. Mash and keep it aside.
- Wash and cut drumstick into 2-inch pieces.
- Soak tamarind in warm water for 10 minutes and extract one cup of tamarind water.
- Chop shallots or big onion.
Recipe:
- Heat oil in a big kadai; add the seasoning one by one.
- Let the mustard and jeera seeds splutter. Fry methi/fenugreek seeds to golden brown color.
- Sprinkle asafoetida, chopped onions, crushed garlic, and curry leaves.
- When onions turn to transparent state add chopped tomato and cook until soft.
- Add turmeric powder and sambar powder and mix well.
- Add chopped drumstick pieces, sauté with spices for two minutes.
- Pour a cup of water and cook the vegetable for ten minutes.
- When drumsticks are fully cooked add tamarind extract and salt.
- Close with a lid for two minutes, and then add mashed toor dal.
- Adjust the consistency of the sambar by adding required water. Sambar should have a thin consistency.
- Close with lid again and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Finally, add hing for extra flavor, garnish with coriander leaves.
Video
Notes
Tips: 1. Cook toor dal nicely and mash fully. 2. Use one big onion if you don't have small onions. But sambar tastes great with small onions. You can use small onions without chopping like restaurant sambar. since my kids don't like that way I chop them usually. 3. Always add Tamarind extract after the vegetable cooked fully. 4. This basic recipe is the same and you can use any sambar vegetable to make this sambar.
Nutrition
Calories: 100kcal
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