Sambar is a lentil-based vegetable curry or stew that has to be one of the most commonly eaten dishes in India — it was served at every place we went. Some versions add a bit of coconut milk to it.
Ingredients
| 1 cup | Red lentils (Main) |
| 2 cups | Water |
| 1 ½ cups | Tamarind water, (see below) |
| 2 Tbsp | Vegetable oil |
| 1 | Onion, large, sliced |
| 3 cloves | Garlic, minced |
| 1 tsp | Black mustard seeds, (optional) |
| 1 inch | Ginger, peeled and minced |
| 1 tsp | Ground cumin |
| 1 tsp | Ground coriander |
| 1 tsp | Ground turmeric |
| ½ tsp | Ground chilli |
| 1 can | Crushed tomatoes, 400g (Main) |
| 1 tsp | Salt |
| 1 | Carrot, large, sliced |
| 1 cup | Cauliflower, chopped |
| 100 g | Green beans |
| ½ | Eggplants, cut into 2cm chunks |
| 1 Tbsp | Lemon juice |
| 1 handful | Coriander, chopped, to garnish |
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Directions
- Combine the lentils, water and tamarind water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are soft and mushy (about 30 minutes).
- Heat oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until starting to turn golden brown (about 6-8 minutes).
- Add a bit more oil, garlic, mustard seeds, ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric and chilli. Cook a further 2-3 minutes until the mustard seeds start popping.
- Add onion mixture, crushed tomatoes, salt, carrot, cauliflower, beans and eggplant to the pot of lentils. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.
- Mix in lemon juice at the end, taste and add more salt and/or pepper to taste. Garnish with fresh coriander.
Tamarind water
To make tamarind water, soak 3 Tbsp tamarind pulp in 1 ½ cups hot water. Use a fork to mash it up a bit and when cool, use your hands to squeeze the tamarind pulp to break it up further and extract as much flavour as possible. Strain the liquid through a sieve. If you can’t find tamarind, just use an extra 1 ½ cups of water.
