Sambar (Tamarind Lentil Stew with Vegetables)

Name: Sambar (Tamarind Lentil Stew with Vegetables)
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: South Indian
Ingredients: 200 g Toor dal (split pigeon peas); 30 g Tamarind pulp; 1 Drumstick (moringa pod), cut into batons; 400 g Mixed vegetables, chunked; 10 Shallots or small onions; 1 Tomato, quartered; 2.5 tbsp Sambar powder; 0.5 tsp Turmeric; 0.25 tsp Asafoetida (hing); 1 tsp Mustard seeds; 2 Dried red chillies; 15 Curry leaves; 2 tbsp Sesame or coconut oil; Coriander leaves; Salt

The everyday lentil stew of South India: toor dal cooked to a purée, soured with tamarind, loaded with whatever vegetables are around, and finished with a crackling spoonful of hot oil.

Fonte

Receita de Tamil home kitchens · 🏺 Tradicional · South Indian (Tamil) household cooking

Traditional dish — no single author — A South Indian staple with no single author, built on pigeon peas and tamarind broth with vegetables, eaten with dosa, idli or rice, as the reference sets out. That page also carries a well-known origin story placing its invention in the 17th-century Thanjavur Maratha court, and immediately notes that historians doubt it — a 1648 Kannada text already describes a similar tamarind-and-toor-dal dish. We record the doubt rather than the legend. Steps are our own writing.

Contexto na Wikipédia ↗

Veja como se faz

Dindigul Food Court

⏱ 55 min🍽 6 porções🔥 210 kcal🇮🇳 Índia🌶️🌶️

VeganoVegetarianoSem glútenSem lactoseHalal

Modo de preparo

Rinse the toor dal, add 700 ml water and the turmeric, and boil 30–35 minutes (or 12 minutes in a pressure cooker) until the lentils have collapsed completely. Whisk them smooth.
Meanwhile soak the tamarind in 200 ml hot water for 10 minutes, squeeze it with your fingers and strain, discarding the fibres.
💡 Jarred tamarind concentrate is far stronger — start with 1 tsp in 200 ml water and taste before adding more.
In a wide pot, bring the strained tamarind water to a boil with the shallots, tomato, drumstick and other vegetables, plus 250 ml more water. Simmer 10–12 minutes until the vegetables are just tender.
Stir in the sambar powder and salt and boil 5 more minutes, until the sharp raw smell of the spice mix has cooked off and the liquid smells rounded.
💡 Boiling the tamarind before the dal goes in is deliberate — raw tamarind tastes harsh, and this is where it mellows.
Pour in the cooked dal, stir well and bring back to a gentle simmer for 5 minutes. It should be pourable, like a thin soup — add hot water if it has gone claggy.
For the tempering, heat the oil in a small pan until shimmering. Add the mustard seeds and wait for them to pop, then the dried chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida. Count 5 seconds and pour the whole thing into the sambar.
💡 It will splutter loudly when the curry leaves hit the oil — that is right. Keep a lid in your other hand and stand back a little.
Cover for 5 minutes so the tempering perfumes the pot, then stir it through with the coriander leaves. Serve with rice, idli or dosa.

💡 Dicas

Sambar should be soupy enough to pour over rice, not thick like dal. If a spoon stands up in it, add water.
Balance is the whole game: sour from tamarind, salt, and a small pinch of jaggery or sugar to round it. Taste before serving and adjust one at a time.
Vegetables are meant to change with the season and the fridge. There is no fixed list — the dal, tamarind and tempering are the fixed parts.
Fully vegan as written, and it freezes well — though the vegetables soften, so freeze it slightly under-cooked.