Sambar is an integral part of South Indian cuisine and each region has its own version of this crowd pleaser. Kerala, where I am from, has many varieties of this dish including varutharacha sambar, ulli sambar, etc.
Sambar with rice is one of my ultimate comfort foods. For my brother and I, a mouthful of our mom’s sambar and rice along with her signature kaipakka mezhukkupuratti ( bitter-gourd stir fry) , and just like that we are in heaven. Whenever we go back home to mom, that combination is always our preferred welcome-home meal.
So here is my go-to recipe, my mom’s quick and easy sambar. The star of the dish is drumsticks or muringakka. It can be made with homemade or store-bought sambar powder. I usually have mom’s homemade sambar powder in stock to always get that special taste of home.
You can add a wide variety of vegetables to the sambar and it will still taste good. Traditionally we use drumsticks, potato, onion, pearl onion, tomato, winter melon, pumpkin etc. Bell peppers, zucchini, green garbanzo beans, chard, kale, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli etc, can all be used. These might add their own distinct flavor to the sambar but it would be just as lovely. 
Sambar
INGREDIENTS
- Toor dal (pigeon peas)- 1/2 cup (washed and soaked in water for 10 minutes)
- Hardy vegetables like carrot, chayote, potato etc- cut into bite sized pieces. I used:
- Carrot- 1/2 large one or 1 medium sized one
- Chayote- 1
- Potato- 1
- Soft vegetables: drumsticks(muringakka), onion, okra etc. I used:
- Drumsticks- 1-2, cut into long slices or 6 frozen pieces
- Onion- 1/2 medium onion cut into squares or 4 pearl onions, peeled
- Okra- 2, cut into long pieces
- Tomatoes- 1 large, diced into chunks
- Tamarind- 1 lime-sized ball of fresh tamarind or 3 teaspoons of thick tamarind past or to your taste
- Turmeric powder – ½ tsp + ¼ teaspoon
- Sambar powder (homemade or store bought)- 2 1/2 heaped tablespoons
- Asafoetida- 2 pinches
- Cilantro- 1 handful
- Jaggery- a pinch
- Salt to taste
- Coconut oil
- Mustard seeds- 1 teaspoon
- Fenugreek seeds or powder- 1 pinch
- Dry red chillies – 1 or 2
- Curry leaves -3 or 4
METHOD
1. In a pressure cooker, take the soaked toor dal, the hardy vegetables, turmeric powder and salt to taste along with 1 ½ cups of water, or just enough water to stay over the ingredients. Mix well and cover and cook for 3 whistles in medium flame. Open immediately using the quick and easy cold water release method i.e. soaking the cooker under cold running water till the pressure is released.
2. If using fresh tamarind, soak it in a cup of hot water. Or better yet, microwave water and tamarind together for a minute. Once the tamarind has softened, crush it into the water, sieve it and use the the pulp-free tamarind water in the sambar.
3. While the dal is cooking in the cooker, in a large pot, add all the soft vegetables except okra, along with turmeric powder, salt to taste and water. Cover and let it cook till done for 3 -4 minutes.
4. If using okra, saute it in 1 tsp of oil for a minute and add it to the rest of the soft vegetables.
5. Once cooked, add the tamarind water or paste and boil well.
6. In a small bowl, mix the sambar powder and a pinch of asafoetida with ¼ cup of water and make a paste. Add the paste to the vegetables, mix well.
7. Add the dal mixture to it.
8. Adjust salt and the consistency to your liking. If you are adding water at this stage, please add hot water.
9. Let it boil well for 3-4 minutes on medium flame.
10. Garnish with cilantro and switch off.
11. Jaggery can be added at this stage; though just a pinch, it can balance out the flavors in the dish.
12. Now we are down to tempering. Heat coconut oil in a small wok or pan.
13. Add the mustard seeds.
14. Once they splutter, add the fenugreek seeds or powder, red chillies, asafoetida and curry leaves. Mix once and switch off.
15. Pour over the sambar. Cover and keep aside for 10- 15 minutes. And they are ready to be served.
Serve the sambar with piping hot rice and ghee or serve it as a lovely accompaniment to idli and dosa or you can just have a bowl of sambar as a snack between meals. Hope you enjoy the dish as much as we do. Let me know how you like it and do share some of your ultimate comfort foods.