South Indian
Sambar (Lentil and Vegetable Stew)
Sambar (Lentil and Vegetable Stew) is South Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre and the protein alongside. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 1 cup toor dal
- 4 cups water
- 3/4 tsp turmeric
- 2 cups mixed vegetables (drumstick, carrot, pumpkin, okra)
- 2 tbsp tamarind pulp (soaked and strained)
- 2 tbsp sambar powder
- 1 tomato
- 1 onion, quartered
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 dried red chilies
- 15 curry leaves
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 tsp jaggery
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Pressure cook the toor dal with the turmeric and 3 cups of water until soft and mushy, about 4 whistles, then mash it smooth.
- In a separate pot, simmer the mixed vegetables and onion in the remaining water until just tender, then stir in the tamarind pulp, sambar powder, tomato, jaggery, and salt.
- Add the mashed dal to the vegetables and simmer together for 10 minutes, until the flavors come together and the stew thickens slightly.
- Heat the oil in a small pan and let the mustard seeds pop with the dried red chilies and curry leaves, then pour the tempering over the sambar.
- Finish with cilantro and serve hot alongside rice or as part of a tiffin plate.
Serve it with
A South Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Sambar (Lentil and Vegetable Stew), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
-
What it is eaten with
-
The sharp little thing
-
Something cool and fresh
A course labelled with another kitchen's name comes from a cuisine in the same family, which is where this plate usually borrows it from.
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand. Sambar (Lentil and Vegetable Stew) carries none of them. That is a checked answer rather than an ingredient list nobody read.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | No | |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Moderate
- Protein
- Medium
- Protein quality
- Partial
- Food groups it covers
- Pulses and Vegetables
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Sambar (Lentil and Vegetable Stew) takes about 40 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
Watch someone make it
Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. Until then this is one still image, which is why the page opens as quickly as it does.
More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on toor dal, tamarind, and mixed vegetables.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from South India.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.