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Sambar rice is made with a mixture of rice and Toor dal along with a wide variety of vegetables such as carrots, beans, potatoes, brinjal and more. It is quite easy to make sambar rice at home. Just follow the steps enumerated and explained in my recipe.

Table of Contents

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Sambar rice is a very popular dish of South India.
Serve it hot with yogurt, any chutney, any vegetable curry, or papad.

Sambar rice tastes slightly nutty, creamy, tangy, earthy, and spicy.
Other similar recipes are lemon rice, tomato, tamarind rice, masala bhat, and curd rice.

The Ingredients:

1 cup rice (small grain)
½ cup Toor dal
3 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 tsp mustard seeds (rai)
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 pieces dry red chilies
¼ tsp asafetida (hing)
Curry leaves – a few
1 piece onion (medium size, cut in cubes)
2 pieces tomatoes (cut in big pieces)
1 piece potato (peeled, washed, cut in big pieces)
10 pieces of beans (cut in 1-inch pieces)
1 piece carrot (cut in 1-inch pieces)
2 pieces brinjal (eggplant, cut into large pieces)
¼ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder
1.5 tsp sambar powder
1.5 tsp salt
½ cup green peas (fresh or frozen)
6 cups water
½ cup tamarind water
2 tbsp coriander leaves (fresh, chopped finely)
3 tbsp ghee
10 pieces of cashew nuts (slit in half)
1 tbsp ghee (to fry the cashew nuts)

I got this recipe from a street-side sweet shop owner’s wife. While my husband was buying sweets, I got engaged talking with his wife, who was cooking something in the small makeshift kitchen at the back. The aroma was fabulous, and I inquired what she was cooking. She stepped out and offered me some on a dish, saying, “Try this and tell me how it is.” I was taken by surprise but loved it. I asked her how to make it, and she shared it then and there.

I cooked it the next day. My husband said it had an unexpected charm, and my sons couldn’t believe the story. Now, this recipe reminds me that hospitality and great food come from the most unassuming corners of our world.

How to Make Sambar Rice? (Step by Step Guide with Images)

Step 1: In a bowl, take 1 cup of rice, preferably small-grain rice, along with ½ cup of Toor dal and wash them nicely for 2 to 3 times. Then, pour fresh water. Keep the bowl aside.

Step 2: Now, heat a pressure cooker on a medium flame. When it is hot, put 3 tbsp of cooking oil and 1 tbsp of ghee (clarified butter) in it. When the ghee melts and mixes nicely with the oil, add 1 tsp of mustard seeds (rai), 1 tsp of cumin seeds, 2 pieces of dry red chilies, ¼ tsp of asafetida (hing), and a few curry leaves to it and let them fry for about 20 seconds.

Step 3: At this stage, add 1 piece of medium-sized onion, cut in cubes, to the pressure cooker. Sauté it for about a minute or two until the onion changes its color. Now, add 2 pieces of tomatoes to it, cut in big pieces. Sauté for just a minute.

Step 4: Then, add 1 piece of potato (peeled, washed, and cut in big pieces) to it. Follow it up with 10 pieces of beans and 1 piece of carrot, all cut in 1-inch pieces. Also, add 2 pieces of brinjal (eggplant, cut into large pieces). Mix all veggies nicely with the other ingredients in the pressure cooker and sauté for just one minute.

Step 5: Now, add ¼ tsp of turmeric powder, 1 tsp of Kashmiri red chili powder, 1.5 tsp of sambar powder, and 1.5 tsp of salt to the ingredients and mix them all nicely. Cook for another minute or so. Now, add ½ cup of green peas to the mixture, mix them, and cook for a minute.

Step 6: Now, add the soaked rice and Toor dal. Do not add the water. Mix them nicely with the ingredients.

Step 7: Now, add 6 cups of water to it and mix it nicely. At this stage, check for salt and add some more if needed. Close the lid of the pressure cooker and let it cook on a low to medium flame for up to 2 whistles.

Step 8: When done, switch off the gas stove and let the pressure cooker cool down. When the pressure is released completely, open the lid and mix the rice very gently and carefully so that you do not mash the vegetables. Then, switch on the gas stove and let the rice cook on a medium flame without the lid this time.

Step 9: Now, quickly, take a bit of tamarind in a bowl, put some water in, and make a mixture of the pulp. Add ½ cup of this tamarind water to the sambar rice in the pressure cooker. Mix it nicely.

Step 10: Now, add 2 tbsp of finely chopped fresh coriander leaves and 3 tbsp of ghee to it. Give them a nice mix as well, but very gently.

Step 11: Now, quickly heat 1 tbsp ghee in a separate pan. Take about 10 pieces of cashew nuts, slit them in half, and fry them until their color changes to light brown. Add these fried cashew nuts to the sambar rice in the pressure cooker. You may put some more ghee if you want at this final stage.