Sambhar Sadham | South Indian Sambhar Rice

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 the 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.

This week, my theme for Blogging Marathon is One Pot Meals. This is one of my favorite themes to blog about as I love making one pot meals. One pot Meals are a lifesaver on a busy week day nights or a crazy activity filled Weekend lunch.

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 Sambhar Sadham, 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 more happy than this with the 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 for the Sambhar Sadham. I did not have any in hand, but would use it next time when I make it.

Preparation time - 15 minutes
Cooking time - 40 minutes
Difficulty 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, drumstick, 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 tbsp of oil and add the pearl onions. Saute it for 2 to 3 minutes in medium heat and then add the rest of 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 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 in 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 in very low flame.
• Serve hot with Appalam / Vadam / Chips.

Sambhar Sadham | South Indian Sambhar Rice

5 from 5 votes

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Course: Lunch Recipes, Main Course, One Pot Meal

Cuisine: Indian, South Indian, Tamil Nadu

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 37 minutes

Total Time: 52 minutes

Servings: 6 Servings

Author: Sandhya Ramakrishnan

Ingredients

• ▢ Rice - 1 cup I used Sona Masoori
• ▢ Toor dal / Tuvaram Paruppu - ⅓ cup
• ▢ Vegetables of your choice - 3 cups I used onions, tomatoes, drumstick, 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

Instructions

• 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 tbsp of oil and add the pearl onions. Saute it for 2 to 3 minutes in medium heat and then add the rest of 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 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 in 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 in very low flame.
• Serve hot with Appalam / Vadam / Chips.

Tried this recipe?Mention @Sandhya.Ramakrishnan or tag #MyCookingJourney!