Sambhar Sadam Recipe - Lentil and Rice One Pot Meal

5 from 6 votes

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Course: entree, Main Course

Cuisine: Indian, indian cuisine

Keyword: brahmin style sambar sadam, sambar, sambar rice, south indian

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 20

Servings:

Calories: 345kcal

Wash rice and dal separately till water comes out clean.
In a pressure cooker add toor dal/ split pigeon peas, rice with salt and 3.5 cups of water. Cover with pressure cooker lid and cook for 3-4 whistles and allow the pressure to release naturally.
If you do not have traditional pressure cooker you can use instant Pot as described below.

Wash rice and dal separately till water comes out clean.
In the Inner pot of Instant pot add lentils, rice with salt and 3.5 cups of water. Cover with the lid and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes and allow the pressure to release naturally.

While lentil and rice are cooking you can prepare fresh sambar masala. This step is optional. Use it if you want to make freshly ground sambar powder otherwise you can skip it and use store bought sambar masala.
Add in a pan dry roast 2 tablespoons of coriander seeds, 1teaspoon cumin seeds, ¼teaspoon methi dana, 1teaspoon skinned Urad dal and few red Kashmiri chillies.
Roast them on slow heat for 2 minutes. Now add grated coconut and roast for 2 more minutes.
Coconut is optional but tastes very nice so highly recommended.
Allow to cool a bit and then make sambar powder.

First in a heat a pan and add 1tbsp ghee and then add mustard seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves, cumin seeds and white urad dal.
Add chopped vegetables in the pan and saute them along for 3-4 minutes.
Tip in salt, turmeric powder, red chilli and freshly ground sambar masala.
Mix everything together and add 2 cups of water.
Cover with a lid and cook for 7-8 minutes so that vegetables are cooked through. Add tamarind paste and mix.

Open the pressure cooker lid after releasing the pressure.
Mix in cooked vegetables with cooked lentils and rice in the pressure cooker.
Mix it gently and serve hot with a side of yogurt papad and a pickle for a perfect comfort meal.
You can do one additional step to enhance the taste.
Heat one more tablespoon of ghee, in the pan add mustard seeds and curry leaves along with dried red chillies.
Allow the mustard seeds to pop for few seconds and pour over tadka.

I have used white rice for making the recipe, you can use brown rice or a mix of white rice and brown rice.
You can change the vegetables used as per taste or availability. Avoid strong tasting ones.
Freshly made sambar powder always taste best, but when in a pinch you can store-bought sambar powder.
To make this vegan substitute ghee with coconut oil.