Last year I shared traditional Kerala Varutharacha sambar recipe during Onam. Recently I came across this easy Onam sadya sambar without coconut using a pressure cooker in Anu’s kitchen YouTube Video. Its the simplified version of varutharacha sambar using Kerala sambar powder. I loved the idea and tried it with some modifications to make it even more easy. As I don’t have Kerala sambar powder, I used my homemade sambar powder, red chilli powder and coriander seeds powder. Still it tasted great with a nice flavor.
For Onam sadya, you may need to cook so many recipes for the feast. I am sure this easy sambar recipe will help you save lots of time when compared with varutharacha sambar with spices and coconut.
Ofcourse taste may not be equal to the traditional Kerala sambar still you can give a try. This sambar would be useful especially for bachelors and working women to make a quick & healthy recipe with the goodness of all the vegetables. You don’t need to make any side dish like thoran or mezhukupuratti if you add lots of vegetables.
Friends, do try this easy Kerala style Onam sadya sambar and share your feedback with me. Lets see how to make Onam sadya sambar recipe without coconut easily in a pressure cooker with step by step pictures and video !
Do check out my Kerala Ulli Sambar For Idli, Dosa.
Temper mustard, red chilli, spice powders in low flame.
Add to sambar, boil for a minute. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Kerala sambar recipe - Step by step photos
Soak tamarind in 1 cup water and take the extract. Take 1/2 cup of toor dal, small onion and slit green chilli in a cooker base. Add 2 cups of water, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and 1/4 tsp cooking oil in water.
Wash and chop the vegetables( I used yam, raw banana, carrot, ash gourd, broad beans, cluster beans, beans, lady's finger, drumstick - 5 pieces each). Chop tomato finely. Transfer the vegetables and tomato to a small bowl that fit inside the cooker. Add 1/4 cup water to it.
Place the bowl with vegetables inside the pressure cooker. Close and cook for 2 whistles in low flame.
Open the lid after the steam is released. Dal and vegetables would be cooked soft. Remove the veggies bowl and mash the dal nicely.
Add the cooked vegetables, tamarind extract, sambar powder, salt. Check for thickness and add 1/2 to 1 cup water if needed. Boil well for 5 minutes till nice aroma arises.
Heat 2 tbsp coconut oil in a kadai. Temper mustard seeds, red chilli, curry leaves. When the mustard seeds start to crackle, lower the flame completely. Add sambar powder, red chilli powder, dhania powder, methi powder and hing. Mix quickly without burning. Add to the boiling sambar. Boil for a minute and switch off the flame. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with plain rice adding ghee. You can also have with idli,dosa if you like.
Notes
Adjust the quantity of chillies as per your taste.
For variations, you can saute finely chopped onion, tomato and add to vegetables inside the cooker.
Sambar powder gives nice aroma to this sambar. To replace it, you should use 1 tbsp dhania powder, 1/4 tsp methi powder and 1.5 tbsp red chilli powder.
You can use any number of vegetables or you can make this sambar only with onions.
Easy Onam Sadya Sambar is ready ! I had with nendran chips !
Cluster beans sambar ( Kothavarangai sambar in Tamil ) is my FIL’s favorite sambar recipe for rice. Today my in-laws visited my place.So I prepared this sambar and cauliflower poriyal for lunch. Even I love kothavarangai sambar more than kothavarangai poriyal or kothavarangai poricha kuzhambu. I learnt this recipe from my MIL. But I make a quick version in pressure cooker. It can be done easily in one pot. For variations, you can use green beans/ French beans as well. Do try this sambar with cluster beans for rice. I am sure you will love it. Lets see how to make cluster beans sambar with step by step photos !
Check out my 30 kuzhambu varieties recipes too !
Cluster beans sambar recipe
Cluster beans sambar recipe / Kothavarangai sambar for rice
Wash and chop the cluster beans of 2 inches size. Chop and Discard the tail portion of cluster beans. Peel the small onion, slit the green chillies. Soak tamarind in 1 cup of hot water for 10 minutes and take the extract. Set aside.
In a pressure cooker base, heat oil and splutter mustard seeds, methi seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves.After the mustard seeds splutter, add the slit green chillies, curry leaves, chopped cluster beans and small onions. Saute until onions turn transparent and cluster beans turns dark green in color.
To this, add 2.5 cups of water, toor dal, turmeric powder and mix well. Pressure cook in very low flame for 1 whistle. It takes nearly 10-12 minutes. After the steam is released completely, open the cooker and mash the dal well with a whisk. After the dal turns mushy, add the tamarind extract, sambar powder, salt and hing. Roll boil well till the raw smell leaves. Lastly add the chopped coriander leaves, boil for a minute and switch off the flame.
Transfer the sambar to a serving bowl and add 2 tsp of ghee. Cover with a lid. Serve with hot rice, poriyal/curry and papad/appalam. Enjoy !
Note
Add more sambar powder if you want spicy sambar.
Sauting cluster beans gives a nice flavor to this sambar.
You can use French beans/green beans instead of cluster beans.
You can also add 1 chopped tomato along with onions for variation.
Delicious cluster beans sambar is ready to serve with rice !
Pumpkin sambar is my recent try in pumpkin recipes. Usually I make red or yellow Pumpkin gravy or pumpkin poriyal ( Manjal Poosanikai/Parangikai in Tamil, Mathanga in Malayalam, Kumbalakayi in Kannada, Kaddoo in Hindi) – My mil’s recipes for our lunch. Both are my favorite recipes. But Sendhil doesn’t like them. So I have to make some other kuzhambu or side dish specially for him whenever I cook Pumpkin. Recently he suggested me to try pumpkin sambar for rice instead of making other dishes with it. Usually I add few pieces of yellow pumpkin in my hotel idli sambar recipe to get the mild sweetness. But this is the first time, I am making manjal poosanikai sambar for rice. So I asked the recipe from my MIL, combined it with my mixed vegetable sambar recipe and made it for our lunch along with Vendakkai poriyal. Sendhil liked it very much and ate all the pumpkin pieces happily.He told sambar tastes much better than pumpkin chutney and poriyal. Abbaaa, I am feeling relieved that I can make him eat pumpkin with this sambar recipe. Friends, do try this easy and yummy poosanikai sambar/pumpkin sambar for your lunch. You can have this sambar with idli,dosa too. Ok, lets see how to make it with step by step photos !
Soak tamarind in 1 cup of warm water for 15 minutes.Wash and soak toor dal adding 2 cups of water, turmeric powder and cooking oil. Wash and peel the skin of pumpkin and cut into big sized cubes as shown in the pic below. You can also chop it with skin because skin becomes soft after pressure cooking. Take the pieces in a small bowl that fits in the cooker and keep it inside the cooker without adding water. Let the dal pressure cook for one or two whistles in very low flame. Open the cooker after the steam is released and remove the pumpkin bowl. Mash the dal well with a ladle.
Chop the onions, slit green chillies and keep it ready. In a kadai, heat oil and temper mustard seeds, methi seeds.Once they start to splutter, add the urad dal, cumin seeds, pinched red chilli and curry leaves. Add sliced onion, slitted green chillies and saute until onion turns transparent.
Now add 1 cup of tamarind extract, sambar powder, dhania powder, turmeric powder, salt and cooked pumpkin pieces. Add raw hing and few torn curry leaves while the sambar boils. Let it boil for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of more water in the middle if needed.
Now add the cooked & mashed toor dal. Mix well and let the sambar boil for another 3-4 minutes or till the desired thickness is reached. Switch off the flame and transfer the sambar to a bowl.Garnish it with coriander leaves and add 2 tsp of ghee.Cover it with a plate and serve after 30 minutes standing time. Mix with hot rice and enjoy with any poriyal and appalam !
Enjoy !
Note
The spiciness level would be normal for this sambar. If you want more spicy sambar, add more green chillies or some red chilli powder along with dhania powder.
You can use red pumpkin or white pumpkin too. But chop them into big pieces so that it doesn’t become mushy while pressure cooking. Never cook pumpkin pieces along with dal. Keep them in a separate box inside cooker but do not add water. This helps to cook the pumpkin soft and it retains its shape too.
Enjoy this yummy yellow pumpkin sambar with plain rice and poriyal.Tastes yumm !!
Whenever I buy Drumstick leaves/Murungai keerai (in Tamil), my first choice is to make sambar with it. I make Murungai keerai poriyal, adai and even kootu/Poricha kuzhambu with it. But drumstick leaves sambar is my family favorite. Its been long time since I shared sambar varieties in my blog. So I thought of sharing this healthy murungai keerai sambar recipe for rice. Lets see how to prepare this yummy drumstick leaves sambar at home.
Last year I wanted to start my mango recipes with this yummy raw mango sambar / mangai sambar. But I couldn’t. This year at least let this sambar be my first mango recipe as its my most favorite. I learnt this recipe from my MIL. My mom & MIL never fails to make this sambar during mango season.We call it as “Mangai sambar” in Tamil. My Mom makes mango sambar along with drumstick. So its more like drumstick mango sambar. Her recipe is a Tirunelveli based version. I will try to make a separate post for that. This is my MIL’s version which is very easy to make without any grinding job. Its like my basic onion sambar recipe but there are slight variations in the quantity of tamarind and spices as we use sour raw mango here. Whenever my MIL make this sambar, she reserves 2 big mango pieces for me as I love to eat those soft,spicy and juicy cooked mangoes the most. When I was making this sambar, all these nostalgic memories were running behind my mind :)..Ok. Lets see how to prepare this yummy raw mango sambar recipe with step by step pictures !
Mixed vegetable sambar recipe updated with video !
I am planning to share a collection of recipes for Indian bachelors. But before that, I wanted to share some easy one pot sambar, rasam & more kuzhambu recipes in Tamilnadu style. So I am posting this easy and quick tamil style mixed vegetable sambar recipe in pressure cooker for bachelors, spinsters, working women and for husbands who are alone in abroad leaving your family in India . Not only for these people but also for housewives who want to finish cooking quickly during busy morning hours.
Generally in Tamil nadu, Iyers & Iyengars make Kadamba sambar by adding freshly ground masala powder. They call it as Arachuvitta sambar. But this is a quicker version using sambar powder. This recipe can be done under 15 minutes using a pressure cooker and a small container. Some people have the habit of cooking & storing the dal for a week in refrigerator. For those people, making this sambar is even more easy. I was very happy with the outcome and I had a satisfaction of eating many vegetables in one gravy.
My daughter Raksha had this sambar along with vegetables without complaining anything as the veggies were cooked really soft n mushy. So this sambar is a good choice for making our kids to eat vegetables. I have used carrot, beans, brinjal & Lady’s finger along with onions. U can use a combination of Radish or drumstick, chayote/chow chow, potato and knol knol too. The taste & flavor of this sambar may slightly vary as per the vegetables you add but the procedure remains the same. Try this quick sambar recipe for rice and pack it for your lunch box. It tastes yum !Lets see how to make this easy sambar recipe for rice.
This is my basic South Indian style sambar recipe for rice. Chinna vengaya sambar/Small Onion sambar is one of the most aromatic sambar recipes next to drumstick sambar. Last year I posted brahmin(iyer)style arachuvitta sambar recipe with onions and drumstick adding freshly roasted and ground paste. But this sambar is very simple and easy to prepare which needs no grinding and no coconut. It can be made within 10 minutes if you have cooked toor dal ready in hand. Even bachelor’s can try this sambar.
This is my MIL’s basic sambar recipe with onions. Mostly I make this sambar when I run short of vegetables. As shallots are very costly in Bangalore compared to Salem, my in-laws buy one or two kgs for me whenever they visit my place. So I keep making onion recipes like sambar, chutney or pickle at least twice in a week. This vengaya sambar is our family favourite.
Raksha loves to have this sambar for idli, dosa too. So I dilute this sambar slightly and serve it with mini idli drizzling with ghee. Ok, Lets see how to prepare this south indian onion sambar recipe.
Onion sambar recipe/Vengaya sambar
Small onion sambar recipe - South indian style sambar recipe with step by step pictures.
Cuisine:Indian
Category:Lunch
Serves:3
Prep time:15 Minutes
Cook time:10 Minutes
Total time:25 Minutes
INGREDIENTS 1 cup - 250ml
To pressure cook
Toor dal - 1/3 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
Red chilli - 1 no (pinched)
Curry leaves - few
Cooking oil - 2 drops
Water - as needed
To temper & saute
Cooking oil + Ghee - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Methi seeds - 1/3 tsp
Red chilli - 1 no ( pinch into 2)
Green chillies – 3 – 4 nos
Small onions/Shallots - 20 nos OR Sliced Big onion - 2 nos
Tomato – 1 no ( cut into small pieces)
Curry leaves - few
Hing/Asafetida - 2 generous pinches
For sambar
Tamarind - Big gooseberry size
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Sugar or jaggery – 1/4 tsp
Sambar powder - 1 to 1.5 tsp (homemade or any brand powder)
Salt & water - as needed
Coriander leaves - few
HOW TO MAKE ONION SAMBAR - METHOD
Pressure cook toor dal adding all the ingredients mentioned under “to pressure cook “. Pressure cook in low flame for one whistle adding enough water. Open the lid and mash the dal well with a ladle. Set aside.
Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup of water. Wash and peel the small onions, slit green chillies and set aside.
Take the tamarind extract adding 1-1.5 cups of water. Extract should be 1.5-2 cups in total. Add sambar powder, turmeric powder, salt, hing and pinched raw curry leaves to it.
In a kadai, heat oil+ghee and splutter mustard seeds. When it starts to crackle, add methi seeds, pinched red chillies, green chillies, small onions, tomato pieces & curry leaves. Saute until onion turns transparent.
Now add the tamarind extract mixture, sambar powder and boil well till onions gets cooked well yet firm without losing its shape.
After the mixture is reduced in quantity, add cooked toor dal and sugar or jaggery. Add little water if necessary. Boil for 2 minutes. Adjust the consistency. Check for taste.
Garnish with coriander leaves, boil for few seconds and switch off the flame ! Transfer it to a vessel. Add a tsp of ghee. Cover it with a lid. Give a standing time of 30 minutes and then serve.
Note
Adding ghee while tempering gives a nice smell to the sambar like in restaurants.
Use sliced big onions in place of shallots if you don’t have in hand but small onions gives a nice flavor than big ones.
Adjust the quantity of tamarind if you add tomato else sambar will become tangy.
If you feel the sambar is tangy, add some plain red chilli powder & allow it to boil for sometime. It helps to balance the taste.
Enjoy vengaya sambar with vathal/vadam or appalam & poriyal. I had with simple tindora curry.
Do check out my other sambar recipes if interested
This is my mom in law’s basic sambar recipe for rice in which we use lady’s finger @ okra. Last week a reader mailed me to blog basic sambar & vathakuzhambu recipes. So I thought of sharing this recipe which might be useful for Tamil new year lunch menu too. I usually make vendakkai sambar & avarakkai sambar for no moon day and for festivals where we don’t use onions because this sambar tastes good even without onions. My mom also makes vendakka sambar but the procedure is completely different. Do click here to know my mom’s Nellai sambar recipe.
This sambar is very easy to make and flavourful too.There is no grinding part. Hence bachelor’s also can give a try. We usually eat sambar sadam adding a few drops of ghee. It enhances the flavour of sambar and even kids would love to have it.
For this sambar, you can replace lady’s finger with brinjal, Raw mango, drumstick or even Keerai thandu. But the quantity of tamarind varies for each veggie. In this post, lets see how to prepare Tamil nadu style basic sambar recipe with Lady’s finger.
Vendakkai sambar recipe/Okra sambar recipe
Lady's finger/Okra/Vendakkai sambar recipe - Basic south indian style sambar for rice !
In a pressure cooker, take the toor dal, turmeric, red chilli, curry leaves with required water. Pressure Cook in low flame for one or two whistles till dal turns mushy.
In the mean time, wash and pat dry the okra in a towel and cut into small pieces of 3-4. Peel onions, cut chillies and set aside.
Soak tamarind in enough water and take the extract using 2 cups of water. Addsambar powder, turmeric powder, salt, hing and curry leaves. Set aside .
In a kadai,heat ghee + oil and temper mustard, methi seeds, red chilli & curry leaves. Add the chopped lady’s finger pieces. Saute for a minute and then add onions and green chillies. Saute till onions turn transparent & lady’s finger shrink and skin turns slightly brown here and there. Then saute tomato pieces till mushy. Add 1 cup of water and allow the lady’s finger to cook well. When it is 3/4 th cooked, add the tamarind extract mixture.
Add some hing and pinched raw curry leaves (please note we are adding hing & curry leaves two times). Allow the sambar to boil well for 5-10 minutes till raw smell emanates.
Now add the mushy cooked dal and boil for 2-3 minutes. Lastly before switching off the flame.
Add chopped coriander leaves, boil for few seconds and switch off !
Cover the sambar with a lid and serve after 30 minutes to 1 hour for all the taste to blend well.
Note
Please reduce the amount of green chillies based on its size & spiciness. Use minimum 2.
Sauting okra is very important else it will become slimy while cooking.
Please add less tamarind as vendakkkai has the tendency to absorb all the tanginess.
Adding coriander leaves for garnishing gives a nice flavor.
Use ghee for tempering as it gives a nice aroma.
Enjoy this sambar with plain rice adding few drops of ghee with papad & poriyal as side dish. Tastes great !
I love to taste and try varieties of sambar recipes be it idli sambar or lunch sambar and particularly this raw mango drusmtick sambar is my most favourite among all the sambar recipes. U know why, this is my mom’s Tirunelveli style sambar for rice :) We love to have it with idli, dosa as well. My mom calls this as "Idi sambar". Its a very tasty and flavorful sambar with freshly ground sambar powder. I can have a plateful of rice anytime with this Nellai sambar. We ( me and my sis) fondly call this as "Amma sambar".
After marriage, when I started cooking, I couldn’t make this sambar often in my kitchen as Sendhil is very much fond of his mom’s Tanjore/Kumbakonam style sambar. So whenever I go to my mom’s house(Salem), she prepares this specially for me. This sambar needs very less dal than the usual quantity. We can add any vegetables like lady’s finger, drumstick, brinjal and raw mango. But our favorite combo is drumstick and raw mango.
In my family, everybody loves my mom’s cooking very much. She makes authentic Nellai Saiva pillai (Tirunelveli) samayal very nicely. My amma never used store bought sambar powder in her cooking so far. Her recipes are mostly with freshly ground powder be it sambar,puli kulambu or rasam. So preparation /cooking time takes little more than my (mil’s) usual method of cooking. So I make my mil’s and mom’s lunch recipes in alternate days and enjoy eating varieties of kuzhambu.
My mom makesCarrot puttu or avialas side dish for this sambar recipe. To me, just a papad/ appalam is enough.
If you are looking to find Tirunelveli style Sambar powder, check THIS LINK
Basic Tirunelveli style Sambar Recipe For Rice
Basic Nellai style sambar recipe for rice using freshly ground sambar powder. U can use any vegetables like brinjal , lady’s finger , drumstick or simply onion.
Cuisine: South IndianCategory: Lunch recipes Serves: 2-3
To roast and grind for sambar powder ( use 1 tsp of this powder, store the excess powder for future use. My mom use this powder for idli sambar too.)
Oil – 1/4 tsp
Methi seeds - `1/2 tsp
Chana dal – 1 tsp
Coriander seeds – 1/2 tsp
Red chillies – 3 nos
To grind
Grated coconut – 1.5 tbsp
Small onions – 3 nos
Jeera/cumin seeds – 1/4 tsp
To saute
Cooking oil – 1 tbsp
Big onion – 1 no (slice cut)
Curry leaves – few
Tamarind – A big gooseberry size
Drumstick – 1 no (cut into finger size pieces)
Small Raw mango – 1/2no ( 5-6 cubes)
Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
Salt & water – as needed
To temper
Cooking oil – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves – 2tbsp (to garnish)
HOW TO MAKE TIRUNELVELI IDI SAMBAR FOR RICE - METHOD
Pressure cook toor dal adding turmeric powder , salt and a drop of oil for 2 whistles. Mash the cooked dal and set aside.In a mixie jar , grind the coconut , small onions and jeera to a smooth paste adding the required water.
In a pan , heat 1/4 tsp of oil and roast the ingredients given under “ To roast and grind”. Powder it nicely. U don’t have to use all the powder. Use only 1 tsp. Store the remaining for making idli sambar.
Take the tamarind extract in a bowl. To this add red chilli powder, salt, turmeric powder and drumstick. Check for taste.Set apart
In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil and saute the sliced onions. To this add the tamarind extract mixture. Cover and cook till drumstick is done. After the drumstick is 3/4th cooked, add raw mango pieces. Again cover and cook for sometime. Mango takes less time to cook. So keep checking otherwise it will cook soft & dissolve in sambar.
After the vegetables get cooked, add the mashed dal. Allow it to roll boil. Lastly add the ground coconut , mix well. Let it boil for a minute. Now add a tsp of roasted and ground sambar powder. Allow it to boil till you get a nice aroma. Switch off the stove and garnish with coriander leaves. Give a standing time of minimum 30 minutes for all the flavors to induce well.
Temper with the ingredients given under “to temper”. Mix well.
Enjoy mixing with hot rice !!
Note
Adding raw mango is optional. U can add only drumstick and make this sambar. But increase the tamarind to a small lemon size.
Garnishing with coriander leaves gives a superb flavor for this sambar. Please don’t skip..
Do not use all the powder to this sambar. Use only a tsp. U can make sambar 2-3 times using this powder. As mixie doesn’t grind very small quantity , amma use this measure. She use this powder for making idli sambar too. So store the remaining powder in a box and use whenever needed.
Less dal is needed for sambar as we add ground coconut and channa dal which helps for thickening.
. Abbaaa, I am feeling relieved that I can make him eat pumpkin with this sambar recipe
. Friends, do try this easy and yummy poosanikai sambar/pumpkin sambar for your lunch. You can have this sambar with idli,dosa too. Ok, lets see how to make it with step by step photos !
