Instant pot sambar (South Indian kerala style sambar) using mixed vegetables is easy to prepare, healthy and too delicious which you can enjoy with a bowl of rice or as a side dish or dip with Indian dishes like dosa, idli etc.
You can make this delicious South Indian Kerala style sambar using mixed veggies, yellow split pigeon peas (toor dal) and sambar masala or spices along with a simple seasoning which is optional.
Sambar is vegetarian as well as vegan side dish using vegetables, dal & spices.
What Is Sambar?
Sambar is a healthy, delicious combination of dal and vegetables with spices.
It is a kind of soup or stew but in South India we enjoy this as a curry or side dish along with South Indian breakfast items like dosa, idli etc or it is also served with rice for lunch or dinner.
You can prepare sambar in the traditional way following this sambar recipe or you can make it easily in a pressure cooker following this easy sambar recipe. However, preparing sambar in instant pot is even more easier which you will learn in this recipe.
We usually use yellow split pigeon peas dal which is popularly known as toor dal in India to make sambar though you can also make delicious sambar using moong dal following this moong dal sambar recipe.
Sambar is a very popular South Indian dish and this instant pot sambar is a Kerala style sambar recipe using mixed vegetables.
I have many sambar recipes in this blog, which are all made in regular pressure cooker.
This sambar made in instant pot is even more easy to prepare and it is delicious too!
You can actually choose the vegetables that you like, though there are some popular veggies that are used for making sambar, like drumsticks, tomatoes, ladyfinger (okra), yams etc.
Today all kind of vegetables like tomatoes, drumsticks, eggplants, pumpkins, spinach leaves, potatoes, carrots etc are all used for making sambar and I have the following sambar recipes in my blog using different veggies and different ingredients or methods.
Preparing seasoning for the sambar is optional, but I totally recommend adding the seasoning as it makes the sambar more delicious.
If you do not want to make the sambar spicy, you may avoid adding the chilies.
When you make instant pot sambar, you can make the seasoning in the instant pot itself by preparing the seasoning in the beginning of the sambar preparation.
Or once the sambar is prepared, you can make the seasoning in a different pan and add the seasoning to the prepared sambar.
To keep this instant pot sambar recipe a one pot dish, I will explain how to make the seasoning for the sambar in instant pot itself which will help you to prepare the sambar more easily and quickly.
How To Make Instant Pot Sambar
Here I have used vegetables like carrots, eggplants and tomatoes along with fresh coriander leaves, toor dal and spices to make the sambar.
I used a medium sized eggplant which gave about 2 cups of chopped eggplants.
If you have small sized eggplants, you can use about 2 to 3 eggplants instead of one.
I also used fresh coriander leaves along with the veggies and also some extra coriander leaves for garnishing, as the fresh coriander leaves make sambar more flavorful, delicious and healthy.
Tamarind is an important ingredient in making sambar, however since we are using tomatoes which adds enough sourness to the sambar, you may even skip the tamarind if you do not want to add it.
So, following are the ingredients I used to make this instant pot Kerala sambar.
Ingredients to make sambar
toor dal (yellow split pigeon peas)
tomatoes
carrot
eggplant
fresh coriander leaves (cilantro leaves)
tamarind paste (optional)
water
spices needed:
turmeric powder
red chili powder
coriander powder
sambar powder optional
fenugreek powder
asafoetida a pinch, optional
For seasoning:
oil
mustard seeds
curry leaves (with no water in the leaves)
dry red chilies (broken)
shallots or small onions
For garnishing
fresh coriander leaves chopped
Steps To Follow (The Process)
Wash and slice the vegetables, keep aside.
Also wash and chop the coriander leaves, keep aside with the veggies.
To prepare the seasoning, add the oil to the inner pot, press the saute mode, adjust to low.
Add the mustard seeds and once the mustard seeds are spluttered, add the chopped shallots and lightly fry.
Also add the broken dry red chilies and curry leaves, fry for a few seconds. To prevent the seasoning from getting burnt, press the ‘keep warm/cancel’ button and immediately proceed with the following instructions.
To prepare the sambar, add the chopped veggies and coriander leaves to the pot.
Also wash the dal and add it to the pot. Add enough salt and add all spices to the pot, mix well.
Add the water and tamarind paste to the pot, mix everything well.
Close the instant pot with lid in sealing position and press manual, cook in high pressure for 7 minutes.
Once the cooking is done, press the ‘keep warm/cancel’ button. Wait for the pot to naturally release all pressure.
Once the pressure is all released, carefully open the lid. Mix the contents and add the coriander leaves for garnishing, serve the delicious sambar hot with rice, dosa or idli!
More instant pot curry recipes in this blog:
instant pot green mung bean curry
easy instant pot chickpea curry
More Sambar Recipes In This Blog:
how to make sambar powder at home
simple sambar recipe without vegetables
More Kerala recipes in this blog:
You can see here all Kerala recipes in this blog. Also you can popular Kerala vegetarian curry recipes here and Kerala onam sadya recipes here.
So below you can get the instant pot sambar recipe in detail.
Instant Pot Sambar South Indian Kerala Style
Ingredients
- 1 cup toor dal (yellow split pigeon peas)
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 carrot
- 1 medium or large eggplant gives about 2 cups chopped, I used the seedless variety which looks long
- 1 bunch fresh coriander leaves (cilantro leaves)
- 1 teaspoon tamarind paste optional
- 4 cups water
spices needed
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 3 tablespoons coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon sambar powder optional
- ½ teaspoon fenugreek powder
- asafoetida a pinch, optional
For seasoning
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 string curry leaves (make sure no water in leaves)
- 5 dry red chilies broken
- 3 shallots or small onions peeled and chopped
For garnishing
- 2 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves chopped
Instructions
- Wash the veggies, chop in small to medium sized pieces and keep aside.
- Also wash and chop the coriander leaves, keep aside with the veggies.
To prepare the seasoning
- Add the oil to the inner pot, press the saute mode, adjust to low.
- As the oil gets hot, add the mustard seeds and splutter the seeds.
- Once the mustard seeds are spluttered, add the chopped shallots and lightly fry.
- Add the broken dry red chilies and curry leaves, fry for a few seconds. Now the seasoning is ready, to avoid it getting burnt, press the 'keep warm/cancel' button and immediately proceed with the following instructions.
To prepare the sambar
- Add the chopped veggies and coriander leaves to the pot.
- Also wash the dal (yellow split pigeon peas) and add it to the pot.
- Add the salt and all spices to the pot, mix well.
- Add the water and tamarind (if using the tamarind) to the pot, mix everything well.
- Close the instant pot with lid in sealing position and press manual, cook in high pressure for 7 minutes. The pot will take a few minutes until it starts cooking, and you will have to just wait until the cooking is all done.
- Once the cooking is done the pot will beep, now you need to press the ‘keep warm/cancel’ button. Wait for the pot to naturally release all pressure or do a careful manual release after 15 minutes of natural pressure release.
- Once the pressure is all released, carefully open the lid by turning the lid to venting position.
- Gently mix the contents and you may gently mash the contents if you wish.
- Add the coriander leaves for garnishing, serve the delicious sambar hot with rice, dosa or idli!
I visited Kerala last year and tasted the sambhar at a ‘Tattu Kada’ and it was really amazing. The pictures remind me of the same Sambhar and I will surely try this at home. Recipe Garden, looking forward to more vegetarian South style recipe to prepare at home. I liked the fact that you included so many images.
Thank you, if you try please let me know how you like it!