Sambar, spicy lentil soup from southern India
Sambar is true comfort food. Full of lentils and vegetables, this soupy stew is quick to prepare. The secret to its rich flavor is found in the sambar masala, the spice mixture so typical of the dish, and the tamarind.
When you finish preparing the soup, you can enhance its flavor by adding a tarka. This is also called tempering, a cooking technique in which you fry spices very quickly in hot oil or ghee, clarified butter. For this, you use dried chilies, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. You already need urad dal for the dosa dough so you don't need to buy an extra kind of lentils.
Think this is a little too complicated? Then leave out the tarka. Your sambar is bursting with flavor anyway.
When to eat sambar?
All day long! You typically eat it for breakfast with dosa, but you can also serve it as a side dish during other meals.
Which lentils do I use?
To make sambar, you need toor dal. These are split yellow lentils that you can easily find in any Asian supermarket. They are easily digestible and high in protein and fiber. Toor dal give a healthy start to your day.
For the sambar masala:
- 2 red dried chili peppers
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon mustard seed
- ½ teaspoon fenugreek seed
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon neutral oil
For the sambar:
- 200 g toor dal
- 1 large carrot
- 150 g butternut or pumpkin
- 100 g eggplant
- 2 large tomatoes
- 4 shallots
- 4 fresh green chilies
- 1.5 teaspoon chili powder
- 3 teaspoons sambar masala
- 3 tablespoons tamarind paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ bunch fresh coriander
For the tarka (optional):
- 2 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil (not olive oil)
- 1 dried red chili pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon urad dal
- About 20 curry leaves, fresh or frozen
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Step 1: making sambar masala
First, dry-roast the spices. To do this, heat a small saucepan and add the mustard seeds. The seeds will pop up in the hot pan. Now add cumin, coriander and fenugreek seeds. Toast the spices without burning them. Remove the seeds from the pan and let them cool.
Now add the oil to the hot pan and briefly roast the chili peppers. Pat the peppers dry with kitchen paper and let them cool.
Now put all ingredients except the oil in a mortar or spice grinder and grind the spices into a powder.
You can multiply the recipe and store your powder in a sealed jar for later use.
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Step 2: making sambar
Start with the toor dal or yellow lentils. Soak them in a bowl of water for half an hour.
Meanwhile, roughly chop the carrot, squash, eggplant, tomatoes and shallots. Cut the chilies in half. Don't forget to remove the seeds. Next, chop the cilantro.
The lentils are soaked. Now drain and rinse them under running water.
Add the lentils and vegetables in a large bowl with 1.5 liters of water. Simmer gently until everything is cooked, no more than 45 minutes. Now mix in the chili powder and sambar masala and continue cooking gently for a few more minutes.
Your sambar is almost ready! If you want to add tarka, go to step 3 now. Otherwise, stir the tamarind and fresh cilantro into the soup. Serve your sambar with dosa and chutney.
![SG 55 sambar]()
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Step 3: making a tarka
This preparation is very quick. When you make a tarka, you must be careful not to burn the spices and yourself.
Before you start, rinse the urad dal and then dry it well. This is important because you don't want the grease to splash up because of the water.
Heat the oil or ghee in a small saucepan. Add the chili pepper, the seeds and urad dal. Now wait for them to pop up. Now add the curry leaves. When they stop sputtering, your tarka is ready.
Pour the tarka over the sambar and mix. Now add the tamarind and coriander leaves as well.
