Mixed Vegetables Cooked in Lentil Sauce

Name: Mixed Vegetables Cooked in Lentil Sauce (Sambaar)
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 100 g/4 oz Masoor dahl (red lentils), well picked over to remove any tiny pebbles; 600 ml/1 pint chicken, beef, or vegetable stock; ½ aubergine, diced and sprinkled with salt, left to drain, then rinsed and patted dry; ½ cabbage, thinly sliced; 2 carrots, diced; ½ cauliflower, cut into florets; 1 tablespoon hot salsa of choice, or ¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or 1 teaspoon hot chilli paste, to taste; 2 onions, chopped; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; ½ teaspoon each: cumin, coriander and turmeric; 1 hot chilli pepper, chopped; 3 cloves garlic, chopped; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger root; Juice of ½ lemon or lime; 1 teaspoon curry powder

Sambaar

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Hot and Spicy

By Marlena Spieler

Published 1985

About

In the south of India vegetables and lentils are frequently simmered together into a spicy mélange known as Sambaar. Red lentils have a robust, almost meaty flavour; here they form a sort of sauce for the vegetable chunks. Serve accompanied by steamed rice and a fresh chilli relish or chutney, as well as a bowl of plain yogurt.

Ingredients

100 g/4 oz Masoor dahl (red lentils), well picked over to remove any tiny pebbles
600 ml

Asia
India
Spicy
Gluten-free

Method

Cook the lentils in the stock until just tender, about 30 to 40 minutes.
Sauté the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli in the oil; add the spices and vegetables and continue cooking for 5 minutes longer.
Add the cooked vegetables to the lentil mixture and simmer until the vegetables are tender. Season with the lemon or lime juice and salsa, and serve im