Sambar (dish)
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| Type | Highly Spiced Curry |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | India |
| Region or state | South India, Sri Lanka |
| Main ingredients | Tamarind broth, lentils, vegetables |
Sambar (IPA: sʌmbʌʀ, ISO 15919: Sāmbār) is a lentil-based vegetable curry, cooked with pigeon pea and tamarind broth. It is popular in South Indian and Sri Lankan cuisines.
History[edit]
According to food historian K. T. Achaya, the earliest extant mention of sambar in literature can be dated to the 17th century.[1] Sambhar originated in the kitchens of Thanjavur Maratha ruler Shahuji. The chefs of Shahuji I, trying to make a dish called Amti, experimented with toor dal instead of moong dal and tamarind extract for kokum. The court named it sambhar combination of sambha means sambhaji and ahar means mill or food considered as sambhajis food, after the guest of the day, Sambhaji, the 2nd Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire. [2]
Preparation[edit]
Sambar is made with one or more of these vegetables:
- okra
- moringa (better known as drumstick)
- carrot
- radish
- winter melon
- potato
- tomato
- brinjal (eggplant)
- whole or halved shallots or onions.
Sambar often contains sambar powder, a coarse spice mix made of roasted lentils, roasted whole red chilies, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds and sometimes asafoetida and curry leaves. Regional variations include cumin, black pepper, grated coconut, cinnamon, chana dal, urad dal, tur dal, or other spices.
The vegetables, tamarind pulp, sambar powder, turmeric, salt, and asafoetida are boiled together until the vegetables are half-cooked. Then the cooked lentils are added and allowed to cook until the vegetables are done. A spice-scented oil is added to the cooked sambar for extra flavor and tempering, and the dish is served garnished with fresh coriander leaves.
The addition of spice-scented oils, or tarkas, made by popping mustard seeds and curry leaves and other ingredients in hot coconut or vegetable oil, at the end of cooking is a common Indian culinary technique and is known as tempering. A combination of mustard seeds, black gram, dried red chillies, and curry leaves fried in ghee or coconut or vegetable oil is one example of numerous oil flavourings used for sambar. Some variations include additional ingredients such as cumin seeds, shallots, fenugreek seeds and asafoetida powder.
Some variations of sambar include ingredients such as moong dal and pumpkin.
Variations[edit]
Sambar is part of a tradition of lentil-based vegetable stews in southern India. In regions that grow coconuts, notably some areas of Kerala, coastal Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, sambar is made with a paste of fresh, grated and roasted coconuts and spices, instead of sambar powder.
In Karnataka it is called saaru (called huli by the Brahmin community). This saaru is a speciality of Karnataka, especially the Old Mysore region. It is slightly sweeter due to the addition of extra tamarind to the cooked vegetables and lentils. The most common saarus are koli saaru and soppina saaru, with main ingredients chicken and greens respectively.
In Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, it is called sambar. Apart from dal and tamarind, few vegetables are used in preparation, combination of few of these: onions, dosakaaya, bitter gourd, drum stick, okra, brinjal, pumpkin and tomatoes.
A similar stew, without lentils (but with vegetables, dried or fresh fish, or meat) is called kuzhambu in Tamil Nadu and pulusu in Andhra. With lentils, the dish is called paruppu kuzhambu in Tamil Nadu
Serving[edit]
Sambar is usually served with steamed rice or pongal as one of the main courses of both formal and everyday south Indian cuisine. A two-course meal of sambar mixed with rice and eaten with some sort of vegetable side dish, followed by yoghurt mixed with rice, is a southern Indian staple.
Vada sambar and idli sambar are popular for breakfast or an evening snack in the south Indian states. Roadside restaurants often offer free refills of sambar for idli and vadas.
Sambar is also served as a side dish for dosa and upma.
Common sambar serving
Sambar served with idli
Batata vada sambar
Coconut sambar
Udupi Sambar powder (packed)
Chicken sambar, cooked in the traditional manner
See also[edit]
References[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sambar (dish). |
- ^ G. J. V. Prasad (2017). "Idli, Dosai, Sambar, Coffee: Consuming Tamil Identity". In Shweta Rao Garg; Deepti Gupta (eds.). The English Paradigm in India: Essays in Language, Literature and Culture. Springer Singapore. pp. 98–99. ISBN 978-981-10-5332-0.
- ^ https://www.sambarstories.com/blogs/recipes/the-story-of-sambar#:~:text=If%20you%20read%20into%20the,Thanjavur%20Maratha%20ruler%20Shahuji.&text=The%20court%20named%20it%20sambhar,Mix%20of%20spices%20%26%20condiments'.
