Sambar Sadam – Sambar Rice

Sambar Sadam / Sambar Rice is an easy one pot meal. This is a simpler version of Bisibelebath and is less spicy. It is a flavorful mixture of rice, dal and mixed vegetables cooked in tamarind extract along with freshly ground spices. It tastes great when hot or cold making it a perfect lunch box item. The best combo would be with potato fry or raw banana fry. It tastes good even with papad.

Now to the recipe…

[Preparation Time-15 mins : Cooking Time- 30 mins]

Ingredients:

• Rice – 1 cup
• Toor Dal – 1/2 cup
• Vegetables – 1 cup (I used carrot, potato, drumstick & capsicum)
• Shallots – 7 to 10
• Oil – 1.5 tbsp
• Mustard – 1 tsp
• Urad Dal – 1 tbsp
• Fenugreek seeds – 1/4 tsp
• Asafoetida – a generous pinch
• Turmeric powder – a pinch
• Tamarind paste – 1 tbsp
• Salt – as needed
• Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
• Coriander leaves – a few
• Ghee – 2 to 3 tbsp

To dry roast & grind:

• Dry Chillies – 3 nos
• Chana Dal – 1 tbsp
• Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp
• Cumin seeds/Jeera – 1 tsp

Method:

• Wash rice and toor dal together. Add a pinch of asafoetida & turmeric powder and pressure cook along with 4 cups of water for 2-3 whistles or until mushy. Once cooked mash it well with a ladle and keep this aside.

• Dry roast the ingredients as mentioned above until golden brown. U will get a nice aroma. Let this cool and grind it into a powder.

• Chop all the veggies into cubes and keep it ready. Soak the tamarind paste in a cup of water. Heat a pan with oil and temper with mustard. Once the mustard pops add urad dal followed by fenugreek seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves. Add shallots and saute for a few seconds.

• Mix the freshly ground powder along with the tamarind juice. Add this to the onions once they are transparent. Add all the veggies except capsicum along with the required amount of salt and let it boil in low-medium flame until the veggies are almost cooked. Finally add the chopped capsicum and boil for a min.

• Add the cooked rice & dal mixture and stir well so that all the ingredients blend well. Finally add chopped coriander leaves and mix.

Yummy Sambar Sadam is ready.

Serve hot with a dollop of ghee. I served with Raw Banana Fry

Tips:

1. U can add vegetables of your choice like brinjal, radish.Adding capsicum is optional, but it has an unique flavour. So give it a try.
2. Do not skip the ghee as it is the highlight of this sambar sadam.
3. U can add sambar powder instead of dry roasting & grinding too.. I love the flavour of freshly ground spices. U can add tbsp of grated coconut too..