South Indian Sambar

Called sambar in southern India, this vegan lentil and vegetable stew is often served as a breakfast dish with spongy steamed breads, called idli. Sambar is traditionally made with split yellow peas, but I substitute red lentils because they cook in half the time and taste equally lovely. The pleasantly sweet-sour note of this soup comes from packaged tamarind purée or paste (look for nuoc me chua or Vietnamese “sour soup base mix” in Asian markets). If you have thick,