One-pot Meals are a lifesaver on busy weekday nights or a crazy activity-filled Weekend lunch. I have to confess something! Well, it is not a big deal, maybe….but for me, it feels like I learned a whole new thing when I made this Sambhar Sadham recipe. Forever I have been thinking that Bisi Bela Baath and Sambhar Sadham are one and the same. I was very ignorant and when people tried to explain it to me, I still stuck to my line of thoughts and believed that they are the one and the same. Finally, it dawned on me that Bisi Bela Baath is a Karnataka specialty and it has a different masala paste. The South Indian Sambhar Rice is Tamil Nadu special and is very famous in restaurants. Reading further upon it, I read that it is very similar to the araichu vitta sambhar recipe I make. I was so excited to make the Sambhar Sadham recipe and made it over the weekend. I make Bisi Bela Baath quite often and that is actually one of my monthly recipes that I make over the weekend. After making the Sambar rice, I think this is going to come in as a competition to my Bisi Bela Baath. My little one loved this and he actually said that he likes this over Bisi Bela Baath recipe. I did a few changes in the way I cooked my rice and lentil (paruppu) for the recipe. For Bisi Bela Baath, I usually cook the rice and lentil together and cook it a little mushy. For Sambhar Sadham, I wanted the rice to be not too mushy and hence I cooked them separately. I cooked them Pot in pot in my Instant Pot and again, I can’t be happier than this with Instant Pot. Any vegetables that can go into sambhar can be used to make Sambhar Sadham. I used pearl onions, drumsticks, carrots, tomatoes, and potatoes. Eggplant would be a great addition to the Sambhar Sadham. I did not have any in hand, but would use it next time when I make it. Preparation time - 15 minutesCooking time - 40 minutesDifficulty level - easy
Ingredients to make Sambhar Sadham - Serves 4 to 6
Rice - 1 cup ( I used Sona Masoori) Toor dal / Tuvaram Paruppu - ⅓ cup Vegetables of your choice - 3 cups (I used onions, tomatoes, drumsticks, potatoes, and carrot) Tamarind - a lemon size ball Sambhar powder - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - ½ tsp Asafetida - ¼ tsp Jaggery / Brown sugar - a small piece Curry leaves - few Oil - 1 tbsp Salt - to taste
To fry together and grind -
Coriander seeds/dhania - 1 ½ tbsp Chana dal / kadalai paruppu - 1 tbsp Urad dal / Ullutham paruppu - 1 tsp Red chilies - 7 or 8 (adjust based on your spice level) Black pepper - ½ tsp Fenugreek seeds / Vendhayam - ½ tsp Coconut (grated) - ¼ cup oil - 1 tsp
Procedure to make Sambhar Sadham -
Cook the rice and toor dal separately and keep them aside. Mash the toor dal well and gently mash the rice as well. I like my sambhar sadham a little on the grainy side, so I don’t mash my rice too much. Soak the tamarind in hot water ( about 2 cups) and squeeze the juice. Chop all the vegetables and keep the ready.
Fry all the ingredients mentioned under the list and once it cools down, grind it into a smooth paste adding a little water as needed.
In a heavy bottom pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and add the pearl onions. Saute it for 2 to 3 minutes on medium heat and then add the rest of the vegetables. Fry the vegetables for about 5 minutes and add the extracted tamarind water. Add the sambhar powder, turmeric powder, and salt, and let the mixture boil well. The raw smell of the tamarind should disappear and also the vegetables should be cooked. Make sure that the vegetables still maintain their shape and do not become mushy. At this stage, add the ground paste and mix well. Let it come to a gentle boil and then add the cooked toor dal. Mix well and let the sambhar boil for 5 to 7 minutes on low heat.
Add the cooked rice and mix well. make sure that there are no lumps in the rice.
Let the sambhar sadham simmer for 5 to 7 minutes on a very low flame. Serve the sambar rice hot, with Appalam/Vadam/Chips.
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