Name: Sambar
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 1 fresh curry leaf sprig, leaves picked; ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric; 150 g (5½ oz) tamarind pulp (a lemon-sized ball); 1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds; 1 tablespoon palm sugar (jaggery); 3–4 teaspoons salt, or to taste; 6–7 dried red chillies, broken in half; 2 tablespoons chana dhal; 2 tablespoons cumin seeds; 40 g (1½ oz/½ cup) freshly grated coconut; 200 g (7 oz/1 cup) dried split red lentils; 1 onion, finely diced; 2 tablespoons virgin coconut oil; 100 g (3½ oz) diced carrot; 100 g (3½ oz) diced eggplant (aubergine); 100 g (3½ oz) diced radish; 2 garlic cloves, sliced; 100 g (3½ oz) diced potato

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
45 min

Appears in

Lands of the Curry Leaf

By Peter Kuruvita

Published 2018

About

Sambar, a popular soupy lentil curry served with rice, idli or vadai, has become a symbol of Tamil food, but came about by accident, back in the 1600s. The story goes that Sambhaji, the eldest son of the first Maratha ruler Shivaji, one day returned home very hungry, only to find his wife and daughter away. He tried to make himself some rice and dhal, but added some tamarind to his dhal by mistake, giving it an entirely different complexion. There are so many variations to this simple yet v