Authentic South Indian sambar recipe (also the traditional Kerala sadya/feast sambar recipe) is the sambar prepared in the traditional South Indian way using mixed vegetables although you can see slight variations in ingredients and preparations within different regions of South India. As I said, even authentic recipes can differ from place to place, this recipe is based on the Trivandrum style(Southern Kerala) preparations.
This is actually a vegetarian dal soup or stew made using yellow split pigeon peas and vegetables cooked with tamarind extract and exotic spices.
This is a very popular South Indian style dal vegetable soup which can be prepared in different ways using different kinds of vegetables. But the dal used for this recipe is mostly the yellow split pigeon peas, though you can find variations like moong dal sambar also.
The dal vegetable soup or stew made in this way is very healthy as it is full of vegetables and dal along with exotic spices like turmeric. It is delicious and goes well with rice too.
Some of the authentic South Indian sambar recipes call for coconut in the ingredients list while there are other authentic South Indian sambar recipes where coconut is not used in the ingredients.
Some recipes use a little jaggery to add sweetness and balance the sourness of the dish while this is more popular in Tamil cuisine.
As I mentioned, South Indian style sambar recipes can vary depending up on regions and they are all authentic South Indian sambar recipes popular in different regions in South India.
This South Indian sambar recipe I am presenting here is made without coconut or jaggery.
You may call this South Indian recipe Kerala style recipe even though there are many different recipes for sambar even with in Kerala ( you can see that many Kerala sambar recipes uses coconut), so this sambar recipe is made without coconut or jaggery.
This is a good idea especially if you use add more sourness to the sambar by using more turmeric or more tomatoes.
In olden days, there was no pressure cooker available, so people used to cook the dal (toor dal or split yellow pigeon peas) in a pot till they are soft and mushy and they cooked the vegetables separately, then combined the both along with exotic spices and tamarind extract and added the seasoning at last.
You can still follow this method where you cook the dal and vegetables separately and combine them later to make the sambar. In that case you can cook the dal (yellow pigeon peas/toor dal) in the pressure cooker meanwhile cook the vegetables in another pot or pan and once both are cooked combine them and cook with added spices and tamarind extract.
However you can also cook them together in the pressure cooker as a one pot recipe which is much easier and quick. I almost always cook them all together in the pressure cooker which is very easy and delicious as well!
As I mentioned in the title this is a South Indian style dal vegetable soup which is very popularly used as a dip with idli or dosa for breakfast or dinner, or with rice for lunch or dinner.
Traditionally, the vegetables available locally were used for the preparation of sambar. For the same people many people believe authentic South Indian sambar recipe should use vegetables commonly available in South India. However it is your choice to decide whatever vegetables you need to add and the recipe is really very flexible.
If you prefer to make the authentic South Indian sambar recipe following the traditional way you can do that easily. The popular vegetables used for traditional sambar recipe include yams, drumsticks, tomatoes, ladyfingers or okra, onions and whatever 'native vegetables' that were locally grown in South India .
My mom uses almost all vegetables for preparing the sambar which includes potatoes and carrots as well which I love very much, but I remember my aunt telling me that vegetables potatoes and carrots were never used in traditional and authentic sambar recipes as only locally grown vegetables were used (these vegetables are grown in South India now but I guess that was not the case long time back). However you can use whichever veggies you like in the sambar, since its a very flexible dish.
Elephant yams were very popularly grown in the kitchen gardens and so they make one of the most popular sambar vegetable especially for those who like the elephant yams and those who love the traditionally prepared sambar.
If elephant yams are not available where you live, you can skip it and use the other traditional vegetables that were used.
See the below picture where white rice is served with sambar, which is a popular vegetarian lunch in South India (mostly served along with other vegetable dishes and pickles as well).
So let us go on to the authentic South Indian sambar recipe made using traditional vegetables in the traditional way. Later I will post my easy sambar recipe where I use almost all vegetables and I make it as a one pot recipe which is more quick to make.
The dal used for preparing this authentic sambar is the yellow split pigeons. I use a pressure cooker to cook the dal for the recipe, but you can use a pot or pan as well but that may take long to cook.
I highly recommend using a good quality pressure cooker to cook the dal, which will make it really soft and do the job quickly and efficiently.
So here you can see the Kerala sambar recipe in detail made using mixed vegetables.
Authentic South Indian Sambar Recipe - How To Make Authentic South Indian Style Sambar
Ingredients
- 1 cup toor dal (yellow split pigeon peas)
- 1 cup elephant yam peeled and sliced
- 3 tomatoes sliced
- 2 lady finger (okra), sliced
- 1 drumsticks diced
- 8 small onions or shallots peeled and chopped
- ½ medium sized cucumber seeds removed and diced
- ¼ cup pumpkin peeled and diced
- ½ cup more locally available seasonal vegetables peeled and chopped (this is optional)
- 1 tablespoon fresh coriander leaves (cilantro leaves chopped)
Spice Powders
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- 4 tablespoon coriander powder
- ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds powder
- asafoetida a pinch
- 1 tablespoon tamarind paste or about the size of half or a small lemon you can make the tamarind solution at home by dissolving a small sized tamarind (half of a small lemon in ½ cup of water for about 5 to 10 minutes)
- 4 cups water or more as required
- ½ teaspoon salt or as required
For seasoning
- 2 tablespoon oil (preferably coconut oil)
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 4 dry red chilies optional
- 3 shallots or small onions peeled and chopped
- 1 string curry leaves
Instructions
To prepare the vegetables
- Wash and clean all vegetables. Sometimes you get veggies chopped and ready for recipes like sambar in many local supermarkets or Indian grocery sores. If you are buying whole vegetables it is important to cut the vegetables evenly as much as possible.
- The traditional authentic South Indian sambar recipe calls for dicing vegetables in lengthwise, like little long pieces. Mostly all vegetables are peeled but an exception is vegetables like cucumbers which are not peeled but only seeds are removed. Then these vegetables are diced lengthwise and made into small but relatively long pieces. With drumsticks, you can scrape off the skin using a knife and then cut lengthwise and maybe slit each piece (no need to remove seeds).
- You can cut all vegetables lengthwise, and try to cut them evenly as much as possible. Now the vegetables are ready to be used for authentic South Indian sambar recipe.
To prepare the sambar
- In a pressure cooker, add the toor dal and 3 cups of water, close the lid and cook for about 3 to 4 whistles or about 10 to 12 minutes in medium heat. Always follow the directions in the manual while using a pressure cooker (including the use of the valve), as this is important for the safety.
- In a pot or pan, cook the chopped vegetables other than tomatoes along with salt and 2 cups of water. Keep the vegetables covered and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until all vegetables are cooked and soft. Once the vegetables are almost cooked, you can also add the tomatoes and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes (during the last 4 to 5 minutes of cooking) so the tomatoes won't be overcooked. (You may also use a pressure cooker to cook the vegetables if you wish. If you are using a pressure cooker, you can cook the vegetables for about 2 whistles or about 8 minutes.)
- Meanwhile dissolve the tamarind in ½ cup of water for about 10 minutes and then filter the contents and keep it aside.
- Once the dal and vegetables are cooked wait for the pressure cooker to cool down before opening.
- Once the pressure cooker is cool enough, open the lid and see if the dal is cooked and soft. Gently mash the cooked dal using a spoon or ladle.
- Add the cooked vegetables to the cooked dal and add the filtered tamarind solution to the cooker.
- Add all the spices also to the cooker containing the dal and vegetables.
- Mix everything well, keep the lid of the cooker open and cook in low heat for about 2 to 3 minutes or until the spices are well blended with the gravy. We do not want to overcook the vegetables though.
- Add the fresh coriander leaves to the sambar, this will add more flavor to the dish.
- You can check if the salt is enough, add more if needed.
- You can also check if the gravy is enough, if you need more gravy, you can add little more water and boil for another 1 minute.
Now the authentic South Indian sambar is ready to be served, we can prepare the seasoning to be poured over the sambar for garnishing and flavor.
To prepare the seasoning
- In a small pan, heat the oil and add the mustard seeds.
- When the mustard seeds starts to splutter add the red chilies and curry leaves and fry for few seconds. Now add the chopped shallots and fry for about 1 minute. Seasoning is ready which you can pour over the sambar! Delicious and authentic South Indian sambar is ready to be served with idli, dosa or rice.
Notes
Nutrition
You might like to see my post on idli chutney recipe - coconut chutney Kerala style recipe
I hope you find my post on authentic South Indian sambar recipe helpful!
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