Name: Instant Pot Sambar
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Ingredients: ½ cup toor dal ( split pigeon pea, arhar dal); 2 cups vegetables ( I used carrot, drum stick and yellow cucumber); 2 medium tomato, chopped; ½ teaspoon turmeric powder; 4 teaspoon sambar powder ( homemade or store bought); ½ teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder; piece seedless tamarind; ½ teaspoon jaggery ( or sugar); 5 cups water ( divided - for grinding dal, for soaking tamarind and cooking sambar); 1.5 teaspoon salt or to taste; 1 tablespoon sesame oil; 1 teaspoon vegetable oil; ½ teaspoon mustard seeds; 1 teaspoon cumin seeds; ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds; 1 green chili, slit (optional); 1 dry red chili; 1 sprig curry leaves; 1 pinch asafoetida( skip to make it gluten free); 1 small shallot, sliced; 1 cup basmati rice, rinsed and drained; 1.5 cups water ( add ¼ extra water if you like it slightly soft)

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Sambar is a South Indian stew made with lentils, vegetables, sambar powder (a special spice blend) and a tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida. Sharing the easy Instant Pot method of making the Sambar.

sambar served in a steel kadai garnished with curry leaves and coriander.

Sambar is a pure comfort food that every South Indian has grown up eating. It is often served with rice, pickle and papad. Samba is also served with tiffin items like Idli, Dosa and Vada.

Though the base recipe is same, every region or even every household sambar tastes different depending on the sambar powder and the method they are cooked.

When making the sambar in the instant pot, generally three methods are followed.

1- Cook the dal separately and then add the veggies and cook it again. But this way we are cooking the dal twice.

2- Add the tempering, dal and veggies together and cook them. This method makes the veggies very soft.

3- Cook the dal and veggies separately and do the tadka.

Today I am sharing the recipe, where we coarsely puree the dal and cook it with veggies, tamarind and sambar powder. This method works well because the cooking time significantly reduces and the flavors blend well as they are cooked together.

Ingredients needed for making South Indian Split Pigeon Pea Vegetable Stew

picture of all the ingredients needed to make mixed vegetable sambar in the instant pot

Here is a break down of the ingredients which go into making sambar

Toor Dal – typically toor dal is used to make the sambar. But you can also use masoor dal, moong dal or combination of any of these three. Toor dal is also referred to as tuvar dal, arhar dal or split pigeon peas.

Vegetables – vegetables like dudhi, drum stick, egg plant, carrot, yellow cucumber, mooli, pumpkin, green beans, potato can be used in this recipe.

Today I am using drumsticks, carrot and yellow cucumber.

Sambar Powder – this special spice blend is the key to making a tasty sambar. You can use homemade or your favorite brand of sambar powder from Indian store.

Tamarind & Jaggery – tamarind for tang and jaggery to balance out the over all tastes. Though sugar can be used, I prefer jaggery.

Oil – I use a combination of sesame oil and vegetable oil. Sesame oil with its nutty taste gives so much flavor to the sambar. Do not skip it.

Tempering – also called as talimpu in telugu and tadka in Hindi is made with hot oil, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds (do not skip), curry leaves and hing. This is poured over the sambar at the end, and this tempering takes the flavors to the next level.

How to make Sambar in the Instant Pot –

1 – Wash half cup toor dal and soak in ¾th cup of warm water for 15 to 20 minutes.

2 – After 20 minutes, transfer the soaked dal with the water into a blender and roughly puree the dal.

3 & 4 – While the dal is soaking, soak tamarind in half cup of hot water for 10 minutes and then extract the pulp.

toor dal soaked and pureed, tamarind soaked and pulp extracted

5 – Wash and prep the veggies. Except for tomatoes, cut the veggies to bigger chunks.

6 & 7 – (I coarsely purée the dal because I don’t want to over cook the vegetables. You can cook the dal and vegetables separately, but this method is easy and the Sambar tastes amazing when the veggies are cooked with the da).Transfer the pureed dal to the inner steel pot of the instant pot. Add the tomato, veggies, sambar powder, red chili powder, turmeric, tamarind water, salt and 3 cups water.

If making the rice, place a large trivet and place the bowl with rice and water. ( For 1 cup of rice, you can use 1.5 to 1.75 cups of water)

8 – Close the instant pot lid, adjust the vent to sealing position and pressure cook for 5 minutes. Release the pressure after 8 -10 minutes.

veggies prepped, dal, veggies and spices added to the instant pot and cooked for 5 minutes.

Remove the rice and set a side.

9 – Now to the sambar add about 1cup of water and jaggery and press the saute mode.

10 – While the Sambar is simmering do the tempering. In a small pan heat sesame oil and vegetable oil. Once the oil gets hot add mustard seeds and let them pop. Add cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, dry red chili, curry leaves, shallots ( optimal) and hing. Sauté for 2 minutes and add this tempering to the Sambar.

11- Taste and adjust the salt. Cancel the saute mode and finally add chopped coriander leaves.

12 – Delicious Sambar is ready to be served with your rice, Idli, dosa or medu vada.