Vahchef with Indian food videos inspires home cooks with new recipes every day.
Vahchef with Indian food videos inspires home cooks with new recipes every day.
Sambhar or Sambar or Kuzhambu is the dish that is common in South India and Sri Lanka. One of the popular signature dishes in the Tamilian cuisine. This dish is usually made every day in most of the Tamilian household. It is also prepared in Karnataka and Kerala.
A variant of sambar known as Pappuchaaru is more common in Andhra Pradesh. A dish made of Tur dal or Tuvar dal (pigeon pea) cooked in pressure cooker. Tamarind soaked in water to extract the juice combined with mixed vegetables (including lady's finger, drumstick, carrot, radish, pumpkin, potatoes, tomatoes, brinjal and whole or halved onions and also other vegetables), spices (turmeric and chilli powder) and freshly ground sambar powder cooked together adding the dal and boiling the sambar well till it gives an thumping aroma all over the house.
The cooked sambar is eaten with an tempered spice mixture containing ingredients like mustard seeds, urad dal, dried red chillies, curry leaves, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds and asafetida. . Fresh curry leaves and coriander leaves are added at the very end to enhance the aroma of the sambhar.
The longer the sambar is cooked the better the taste and flavors. South Indian food, people and culture are inextricably linked to a ubiquitous dish as in idli and sambhar, sambhar and rice and so on. Each state in the South prepares it with a typical variation, adapted to its taste and environment.
Sambar is reflective of a broad and ancient tradition of dal-based vegetable stews in southern India. Many regions and families of the Indian subcontinent have developed and maintained their own adaptations of a dal and vegetable stew, and similar preparations are evident in such dishes known in local languages as rasam, charu, saaru, and pappu chaaru. Toor dal or Tuvar dal or Tur dal or Arhar dal (yellow dal) is a whole lentil, yellow in color with a tan jacket but are usually skinned and split.
They are mild and have a nutty flavor. Tur Dal is a very vital ingredient in preparing dal for a daily meal like Plain dal, Sambar and also used in preparation of Rasam. Dal is one of my most vital elements that I love eating with hot rice. Dal can also be spelled in many ways like the “Dahl”, “Daal”, “Dhal”, or the “Parippu”, “Paruppu” and “Pappu” because of the wide cultural heritage and multifaceted languages that we have in our Country. Dal is a preparation of pulses (dried lentils, peas or beans) which have been stripped of their outer hulls and split.
Dals are also commonly available like the whole pulses known as sabut dal or the split dal known as dhuli dal. The hulling of a pulse is to improve digestibility and palatability. There are over 50 different varieties of pulses in India & Pakistan. Dal is prepared like a thick stew with mild spices and seasoned with fresh curry leaves (also called Karipak) and coriander leaves (known as cilantro) to give an earthy flavor. Dal (dried lentil) is low in fat and high in protein, fibre and nutritious.
Below listed are some of my favourite Sambar/ Sambhar recipes that I love to eat and is also almost cooked at every household in south India:
Chow chow Sambar Chow chow sambar is a traditional sambar preparation popular in and around the districts of Tamil Nadu. Sambar is generally prepared at every home with any vegetable, lentils and spices cooked together in a tangy soup. In this recipe, chow chow or chayote is added and cooked with lentil to make an excellent dish. The dish is creamy, smooth and a brilliant combination of all flavours.
Sambar with Field Green Beans Sambar with Field Green Beans commonly known as Avarakkai Sambar in southern India is a very popular lentil combined with Field green beans combined with spices to make it very delicious and flavourful.
Sambhar Lentil based south Indian dish, slightly tangy to taste combined with a mix of vegetables, spices, and freshly ground sambar powder that gives a thumping aroma all over the house.
Pavakkai Pitlai with Sambhar Powder Pavakkai Pitlai With Sambhar Powder is Bitter melon sambar popular prepared in the interior areas of Tamil Nadu. Bitter melon cooked in tangy tamarind water and spiced with sambar powder and black channa (Indian desi channa) added to the sambar.
Tiffin Center Sambhar Sambar made in tiffin center style. This dish is made with few lentils, mixed vegetables, Indian spices roasted and ground to a masala paste and boiled with little tamarind juice until done.
Easy Tasty Sambhar This tasty and easy Sambar is a dish from South Indian and Sri Lankan Tamil cuisines, made of toor dal and veggies, sambar masala. A variant of sambar called pappu chaaru is more common in Andhra Pradesh.
Pappu Charu A classic south Indian dish, basically a tamarind lentil stew cooked with various types of vegetables. Pappu charu is redolent with the delicate flavor of curry leaves and seasoned with Indian spices like cumin, mustard, and fenugreek and ginger garlic paste.
Sindhi kadhi Sindhi cuisine is very nutritious with a predominant use of vegetables in each and every dish. Sindhi kadhi is one such example where all the vegetables are used beautifully to complement each other in taste, colour and texture.
Sambhar with Greens A traditional lunch menu of South India is incomplete without sambar and usually sambar is prepared using a variety of vegetables, okra sambar being one such. Greens are used in the preparation of keerai sambar. Healthy greens combined with dal, make this a wholesome lunch menu. Do give this drumstick greens ie murungai keerai sambar a try.
Mutton Sambhar Sambar is a common traditional South Indian dish that’s frequently prepared with vegetables like drumstick, carrot, potato, bottle gourd ladies finger, mango, beans, bringal etc. Mutton Sambar is quiet unique and delicious in taste but its not prepared so frequently as compared with the vegetable sambar.
Sambar is highly nutritious, rich in proteins, vitamins and other nutrients. They are often served with hot rice and can also be eaten with roti, chapatti, or phulkas.
Do try these recipes and delight your palate with different sambar variations.
To try more exotic and delectable recipes, do click on: https://www.vahrehvah.com
You could always reach me at my below links: My Cooking Videos Indian Recipes Indian Food Regional Indian Cuisines VahChef Sanjay Thumma
Enjoy Cooking! Keep Smiling…
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