One Pot Mixed Vegetable Sambhar

Hello people! I felt like a winner yesterday :). I had invited some friends over for lunch and was making a proper South Indian menu. I normally don’t cook much of south indian dishes at all.. especially when we have people over.. it’s either my mil making the dishes if it’s south indian and if I’m making the food, it’s almost always pizza/ pasta/ indo-chinese types.. you get the gist! So I was a bit nervous about how everything would turn out but thankfully, everything tasted alright and I had noted down the exact measurements in order to be able to blog them :). My friend saw the photo taking madness (not proud of this part but hey, it’s a friend. She would understand the madness in her friend :)).

I had made this one-pot sambhar for the first time a few weeks back and loved how flavorful they turn out. Honestly, the only reason I was making them one pot was because of my laziness to make the dal separately, not to mention the separate time that goes for cooking dal and then using it to make sambhar blah blah.. but honestly, I think I am going to be making this format of sambhar for a long time because it really tastes muchhhh better than the traditional way of making sambhar. I want to make this for my in-laws when they are back home. This truly tastes like a Hotel Sambhar. Ofcourse, it’s also to do with adding a mixed set of veggies (something I hated as a child). My dad would be surprised to see me relish this. He always liked mixed veg sambhar but mostly never got it since I hated it and I hated it so much that mom almost always never made it that way (sorry dad :D).

Anywho, try this out and let me know if you loveeee it too. And oh, brownie point in my sambhar is the brinjal, tomato & capsicum used are home grown :).

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One Pot Mixed Vegetable Sambhar

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

 

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 4 cups

Ingredients

• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/8 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/8 tsp asafoetida
• 5-7 nos curry leaves
• 8-10 nos shallots
• 1 small tomato
• 1/2 medium carrot
• 3 tbsp chopped capsicum
• 2 tbsp chopped brinjal
• 2 tbsp sambhar powder
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste
• 1/4 cup toor dal
• 1/4 cup moong dal
• 1 tsp rock salt

Instructions

1. Veggies prep – Peel 8-10 shallots, Chop 1/2 carrot into roundels, Chop 1 tiny capsicum and 1/2 small brinjal into bite size pieces. Place 1/4c toor dal, 1/2c moong dal in a bowl and wash/ rinse 3 times. Set all this aside.

2. Heat a 2L or 3L pressure cooker with 1t vegetable oil on medium-high heat.

3. Once hot, throw in 1/2t mustard seeds. When it starts to spluteter, add 1/8t fenugreek seeds.

4. Just as it starts to change colour, add 1/8t asafoetida, 1/4t turmeric powder, 5-7 curry leaves. and just saute for a few seconds.

5. Now add 8-10 shallots and saute till it starts to change colour.

6. Next throw in the chopped tomato, saute till the tomato softens.

7. Now, add the chopped carrot, capsicum, brinjal and mix.

8. Right after, add the washed dal, 2T sambhar powder, 1T tamarind paste, 1t rock salt, 3c water.

9. Close the lid and pressure cook for 5-6 whistles. Turn off the heat and let the pressure release naturally.

10. Open and check for salt and adjust accordingly.

11. Mix well and serve hot.

Recipe Notes

1. I love my amma’s sambhar powder and used that for this recipe. 
2. We always have puli/ tamarind paste in our fridge. You can find the recipe here. If you don’t have puli paste handy, you can soak a lemon sized tamarind in hot water and then squeeze the pulp. 
3. If you don’t want to use tomato, then add another tablespoon puli paste. 
4. If you want your sambhar to be extra spicy, then add 1 green chilli while sautéing onion. 
5. You can use a mix of any veggies. Normally I use only onion, tomato, carrot and capsicum. The brinjal was just a bonus this time.