Sambar Rice or Sambar Sadam is a one pot rice and lentil dish from the cuisine of Tamilnadu. Made in the instant pot, this comfort food will become your favorite week night dinner.
About this recipe
Sambar translates to lentil and Vegetable Stew. It is made with toor dal, vegetables, tamarind and a special masala powder ( made with roasted lentils, red chili powder and few other spices).
In Sambar Rice, we cook all the components of sambar with the addition of rice. It’s an ultimate comfort food for South Indians, which is made for special occasions as well as on a daily basis.
Making Sambar Sadam in the instant pot is so easy. The best part is, it’s a one pot dish and clean up is a breeze.
Sambar Rice is very similar to Bisibelebath from Karnataka, the only difference is in the spice blend.
This Sambar Rice
- is a comfort one pot meal
- makes for a easy weeknight dinner
- make it vegan, by skipping ghee
- enjoy it with papad, pickle and yogurt
Ingredients:
How to make Sambar Rice?
Step by step instructions –
Wash the rice and dal about 2 to 3 times. Soak the dal in 1 cup of water for 20 to 30 minutes. Soak rice in 1 cup of water for 5 minutes.
1 – Turn on the instant pot in saute mode. Heat oil and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard pops, add cumin seeds and curry leaves and saute for 15 seconds.
2 – Add onion and cook for two minutes.
3 & 4 – Add tomato and cook for two minutes. Add all the vegetables and coat with oil.
5 – Add turmeric powder, sambar powder and salt. Cook for a minute.
6 – Add the tamarind water and boil for two minutes. Now add rice, dal and soaked water and another 1 ½cups of water. The total amount of liquid will be 4 ½ cups( 2 cups of soaked water + 1 ½ cups of water + 1 cup tamarind water). Give a mix and taste for salt and spice and adjust accordingly.
7- Close the lid and adjust the vent to the sealing position. Pressure cook on high for seven minutes. Do a natural pressure release.
8 – Mix it well and garnish with chopped coriander. If you like sambar rice little watery, add some boiled water and mix it.
Serving Suggestions:
Serve the sambar rice with papad, pickle and yogurt or buttermilk.
Frequently Asked Questions –
Red chili powder and Coriander powder.
I used basmati rice, sona masoori also works. You may need to add little more water.
Homemade or store bought sambar powder can be used. If your sambar powder is mild, add some red chili powder to the sambar rice.
More one Pot Rice Recipes –
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Instant Pot Sambar Rice | Sambar Sadam
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- ½ cup white basmati rice
- ½ cup toor dal
- 2 – 3 cups vegetables ( beans, carrot, potato, green bell pepper, lima beans)
- 2 medium tomato, diced
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 2 tablespoon sambar powder (or to taste) (If you don't have sambar powder replace with 1.5 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder & 3 tsp coriander powder)
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder ( optional) add it if the sambar powder is not spicy
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 cup tamarind water soak small amount of tamarind in hot water and extract the pulp
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon ghee (if vegan, add more oil)
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 3 ½ cups water ( 2 cups while soaking rice and dal + 1 ½ cups while cooking)
Instructions
Instant Pot Method –
- Wash and soak the dal in 1 cup of water for 20 to 30 minutes. Wash and soak rice in 1 cup of water for 5 minutes.
- Turn on the instant pot in saute mode. Heat oil and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard pops, add cumin seeds and curry leaves and saute for 15 seconds.
- Add onion and cook for two minute
- Add tomato and cook for two minutes. Add all the vegetables and coat with oil.
- Add turmeric powder, sambar powder and salt. Cook for a minute.
- Add the tamarind water and boil for two minutes. Now add rice, dal and soaked water, 1 ½ cups of water. The total amount of liquid will be 4 ½ cups( 2 cups of soaked water + 1 ½ cups of water + 1 cup tamarind water). Give a mix and taste for salt and spice and adjust accordingly.
- Close the lid and adjust the vent to the sealing position. Pressure cook on high for seven minutes. Do a natural pressure release.
- Mix it well and garnish with chopped coriander. If you like sambar rice little watery, add some boiled water and mix it.
- Finally drizzle some ghee on the top and serve it hot.
Traditional Pressure Cooker –
- Follow the same instructions as instant pot, pressure cook in medium flame for 3 to 4 whistles. Do a natural pressure release.
Notes
- If you don’t have sambar powder replace with 2 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder & 2 tsp coriander powder
- If the Sambar powder is not spicy add some red chili powder.
- Adjust the tamarind according to your taste.
- Highly recommending soaking the dal, especially when we are cooking with the spices and tamarind.
- If you like the rice watery, add some hot water after it is cooked.
- Whether you use home made or store bought sambar powder, make sure it a good one. The taste of sambar rice completely relies on the sambar powder.
- The total amount of liquid we will be using is 4 ½ cups( 2 cups of soaked water + 1 ½ cups of water + 1 cup tamarind water)
- You can always add more water after its cooked. I feel that too much water while cooking will making the sambar rice very mushy.
Seethal
Looks yummy. I’m going to try this. Need a clarification though; when you add water do you add just 1 1/2 cup of the 4 cups used for soaking rice? In the ingredients you mention 3 1/2 cups water, then for soaking 4 cups,; it’s a bit confusing.
Thanks
Madhavi
Thank you for letting me know. It was a typo. I fixed it. We will be using 3 1/2 cups of water ( 2 cups when we soak rice and dal + 1 1/2 cups of water). We will be also using 1 cup of tamarind water. So the total amount of liquid is 4 1/2 cups. As sambar rice is soft, we don’t need the exact amount of water as we would with pulao. Hope this helps!