I love Tamilnadu style sambar sadam. Its the perfect comfort food for lunch. I love both bisi bele bath as well as sambar sadam. Here is the recipe for Bisi Bele Bath. This is Chef.Palanisamy’s recipe for sambar sadam. His sambar sadam is legendary. Here it is.
First lets do some Prep Work.
We will need to grind a masala for sambar sadam.
Heat a teaspoon of ghee in a pan and add in all the masala ingredients except coconut. Saute the spices till fragrant on a low flame. Add in the coconut and saute till the coconut is slightly brown. Set aside to cool.
Grind the roasted spices to a smooth paste with half a cup of water. Set aside.
Soak a gooseberry sized tamarind in a cup of water for 15 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind to extract the pulp. Strain the pulp and set aside.
Boil the veggies along with onion, tomato and tamarind pulp. Cook the veggies in the cooker for 2 whistles (5-6 minutes). Remove from heat and wait for the pressure to release in the cooker naturally.
Veggies: Use vegetables of your choice like Carrot, Beans, Chow-Chow, Drumstick etc.. Use a total of 2 cups of veggies.
Now, Lets cook the rice and dal. Soak the dal and rice in water for half an hour. We will be using raw rice for this recipe. Another thing is to use equal quantity of dal and rice. I have used half a cup each of toor dal and sona masuri rice. Cook the dal and rice in a pressure cooker with 3 cups of water for 5 whistles. Remove from the stove and wait for the pressure to release.
Open the cooker and mash the rice and dal with the back of a ladle. Set aside.
Now the final tempering and assembly.
Heat oil in a pan and add in the cumin seeds, mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves. Let the seeds splutter. Add in half a cup of water and the ground masala. Add in asafoetida (hing), turmeric powder and salt. Let it simmer for a minute.
Add in the boiled veggie mixture. Let it simmer for 5 minutes more.
Add in the cooked dal rice mixture and mix well. Add in the ghee. The rice mixture will be slightly liquid. The rice mixture will thicken as it cools.
Remove from heat and allow it to cool for atleast 30 minutes before serving.
Sambar Sadam, Sambar Rice Recipe
Easy recipe for Sambar Sadam, Sambar Rice Recipe. Easy Tamilnadu style Sambar Sadam in pressure cooker.
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 3 servings 1x
Ingredients
For the Sambar Sadam Masala
- 1 teaspoon ghee
- 1/2 cup fresh shredded coconut
- 1 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 3 dried red chillies
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
For Boiling Veggies
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 tomato, diced
- 2 cups veggies (carrot, beans, chow chow, drumstick)
- gooseberry sized tamarind
Cooking Rice and Dal
- 1/2 cup toor dal
- 1/2 cup raw rice (sona masuri)
- 3 cups water
For Tempering
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 3 dried red chillies
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon ghee
Instructions
For the Sambar Sadam Masala
- Heat a teaspoon of ghee in a pan and add in all the masala ingredients except coconut. Saute the spices till fragrant on a low flame. Add in the coconut and saute till the coconut is slightly brown. Set aside to cool. Grind the roasted spices to a smooth paste with half a cup of water. Set aside.
For boiling veggies
- Soak a gooseberry sized tamarind in a cup of water for 15 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind to extract the pulp. Strain the pulp and set aside.
- Boil the veggies in a pressure cooker to cook the veggies. Cook the veggies in the cooker for 2 whistles (5-6 minutes) and let the pressure settle in the cooker naturally.
Cooking Rice and Dal
- Soak the dal and rice in water for half an hour. Cook the dal and rice in a pressure cooker with 3 cups of water for 5 whistles. Remove from the stove and wait for the pressure to release. Open the cooker and mash the rice and dal with the back of a ladle. Set aside.
Final tempering
- Heat oil in a pan and add in the cumin seeds, mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves. Add in half a cup of water and the ground masala. Add in asafoetida (hing), turmeric powder and salt. Let it simmer for a minute. Add in the boiled veggie mixture. Let it simmer for 5 minutes more.
- Add in the cooked dal rice mixture and mix well. Add in the ghee. The rice mixture will be slightly liquidy. The rice mixture will thicken as it cools.
- Remove from heat and allow it to cool for atleast 30 minutes before serving.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Main Dish
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
Thanks a lot. Nalla Vanthathu, ma. 🙂
thank you!
I made this sambhar sadam today. It turned really well!!
Thanks for the recipe!!
Thank you!
Loved the recipe. I have been trying your recipes for long and my whole family loves it. Everything is just so drooling..I am a good cook because of you:) thank you so much
The recipe is very directive step by step n easy for a short time bachelor like me ..
I tried first time now n am happy to get a delicious Sam are sadham ..
Thanks kannamma
Regards
Siva
Hi Suguna,
I would like to try this recipe. WHen do you add the tamarind water. I see the soaking of it but dont see where you need to add it. Do I boil the veggies with the tamarind water?
Thank you,
Boil the veggies along with onion, tomato and tamarind pulp.
Thank you so much. I have tried your black pepper chicken, vathal kuzhambu and one more dish, my memory fails me and they all turned out amazing. I have to up the number of dried chillies for the black pepper chicken though. My husband eats fiery hot!! Sooooo goood !!!!
THANK YOU !
Thank you!
Hi… I’m a huge fan of your recipes… Whatever I wanna cook I first search for the recipe in your page… I tried this sambar sadam and it came out really really well… My family loved it… Thank you…
Please excuse my ignorance of South Indian cuisine, but could you clarify something about the tamarind for me? Do you discard the liquid the tamarind soaked in, and only use the pulp?
Also, what might one serve along with it? Pickle, bread?
This sounds so delicious and I can’t wait to try it ! Thank you for sharing.
Hi Bill, We use only the pulp. Discard the seeds and the pith. You can serve it along with chips or papad.
Potato stir fry also goes well.
Delicious and authentic Sambar Sadham.. whenever am in Chennai would want to visit Saravana Bhavan just to have this dish.. its perfect.. Just loved it.. Thank u sharing the recipe..
Thank you!
I made this today.. Awwwwwesome.. It given saravanabavan hotel sambar sadam taste.. Superb.. Thank u so much for ur wonderful recipy.
Thank you Deepa.
I’d tried this Sambar sadam, the aroma and the taste was divine.Thank you for this recipe Kannama👌🙌👏
Thanks for sharing. I would like to make 4-5 servings of this recipe. Can I increase the amount of rice & toor dhal to 3/4 cups each with 4 cups of water?
You can just double the recipe and it works fine.
Tried the sambar sadam recipe. Came out fantastic, your recipes are genuine and require no further alterations. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. 🙂
Thank you so much Prathibha.
I have tried this receipe today. It turned out well. Thank you very much.
Thank you Siva.