Instant Pot Simple Sambar (Edit recipe)

Sambar, a lentil dish, is a staple in every South Indian home and shows up at least once on the weekly menu. It is a soup like dish made with split pigeon peas, vegetables, spices and tamarind. It’s a very versatile dish which can have completely different taste and flavor depending on the vegetables and spices used in it. The most common vegetables used in a traditional sambar are eggplant and drumsticks, or a mix of vegetables like yellow pumpkin, green beans, carrots, flat beans, green mango . Sambhar also gets its unique flavor from shallots. The next best substitute for shallots are the purple or red onions or any onion for that matter. There is no hard and fast rule with Sambar. In most homes we pretty much use any vegetables available at hand. So this can be an ideal dish for the days when you need to finish off the last of the carrots, bell pepper or green beans in your fridge. Other vegetable options are also on the notes. Authentic Sambar recipe calls for sambar powder, which is a spice blend of red dry chilies, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, urad dal, chana dal and a few other spices. But we have simplified this recipe so that it’s easy for everyone to try it without the sambar powder. If you have a pack of the sambar powder in your pantry, by all means use a spoon of it at the same stage when I add all the other spices to the vegetables.

15 minutes

30 minutes

Difficulty:

Intermediate

Show nutritional information

This is our estimate based on online research.
Calories:	826
Fat:	14 g
Carbohydrates:	140 g
Protein:	44 g
Cholesterol:	0 g
Sodium:	1144 mg
Fiber:	12 g
Sugars:	2 g
Calculated per serving.

by Masala Paleo

View original recipe

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 cup Split Pigeon Peas
2 whole Shallot, or 1 small onion sliced lengthwise
1 whole Tomato
1.5 cups Eggplant, chopped, you can also use drumsticks (moringa), pumpkin, green beans, carrots, flat beans, green mango, radish or a mix of these
1 Tbsp Tamarind Paste
3 sprigs Cilantro
1 tsp Avocado Oil

Spices

1.5 tsp Chili Powder, or Cayenne powder
1 tsp ground Coriander
2 tsp Turmeric Powder
2 tsp Salt

Ingredients for Tempering

1 Tbsp Avocado Oil
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Whole Cumin Seed
20 whole Curry Leaves, Optional
2 whole Red Chili (Fresh Asian-style), Dried

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Process

Note, these instructions are written assuming the standard serving size, since you have modified the number of servings, these steps may need to be modified for best results

We start with cooking the lentils and vegetables
Rinse the lentils till the water runs clear
Add the lentils to the instant pot
To the lentils add 1 tsp of turmeric, 1 tsp of cumin seeds and 1 tsp oil
Add 4 cups of water
Place the wire rack/trivet which comes with the instant pot over the lentils and water
In a small steel or Pyrex mixing bowl add the shallots/onion, tomatoes, chopped vegetables of choice
Dilute the tamarind paste with 1/2 a cup water
Add the tamarind water to the vegetables.
Add the spices – turmeric, chili powder, coriander powder, salt
Place the mixing bowl with vegetables on the rack which was placed in the instant pot steel insert
Cover the bowl with a steel plate or an oven safe lid.
Close the instant pot lid and make sure to close the pressure vent. Select the manual pressure cook option and set the timer for 15 minutes
Open the lid after natural pressure release
Take out the bowl of vegetables and the rack. Add the vegetables and the spices into the lentils . And add a cup of water to adjust the consistency if needed
Set the Instant pot on sauté mode and let it come to boil
Now it's time for the tempering or tadka , which is the final step
Add 1 tbsp of oil in a small pan. Once the oil is hot add the mustard seeds, let them splutter. Add the cumin seeds, let them bloom.
Add the dry red chili and switch off the flame
Pro tip – if you have sambar powder on hand add 1 tsp in the hot oil, once the flame is switched off.
Finally add the curry leaves right away and give it a stir
Once the oil is hot add the tempering to the sambar
Garnish with chopped cilantro

Notes

Different vegetables bring different flavors, so the taste will vary depending on the vegetables you use. Some Indian grocery stores even sell a bag of the frozen sambar mixed vegetables. If you can’t find tamarind, you can sub it with 1/4 cup of lemon juice.