South Indian
Sambar (Lentil and Vegetable Stew)
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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
The quantities follow this count.
How to cook it
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Pressure cook the toor dal with the turmeric and 3 cups of water until soft and mushy, about 4 whistles, then mash it smooth.
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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.
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Add the mashed dal to the vegetables and simmer together for 10 minutes, until the flavors come together and the stew thickens slightly.
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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.
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Finish with cilantro and serve hot alongside rice or as part of a tiffin plate.
Watch how to cook Sambar (Lentil and Vegetable Stew)
Someone making it start to finish, so you can see what the steps look like.
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.
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What it is eaten with
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The sharp little thing
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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 |
|---|---|
| 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
Estimated, per serving
- Calories
- 220 kcal
- Protein
- 9 g
- Carbs
- 28 g
- Fat
- 8 g
- Fiber
- 7 g
- Sugar
- 5 g
- Sodium
- 560 mg
- Saturated fat
- 1 g
Estimated values. Actual nutrition varies with ingredients, brands, and how you cook.
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.
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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.