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Home » all recipes

Sambar | Lentil and Mixed Veggies Curry

4 Comments Published August 14, 2014 Updated February 5, 2025

 

Sambar

Food lovers – both vegans and non vegans - love and admire this very traditional South Indian recipe. There’s no doubt about that; it’s so delicious and amazing!

There are tons of variations for this traditional dish that has been passed on from generations to generations and shared from kitchen to kitchen. The addition of fried coconut and use of just one vegetable to name a few.

Lentils, the hero of the dish along with an array of veggies – you have a recipe that everyone in the family will love. Moreover, the flavor of the spices used in this recipe is really something to die for! Honestly, I can’t imagine a quicker and more nutritious vegan curry.

So, why wait? Let’s start cooking!

Sambar

More Vegetable Curry Recipes:

  • Varutharacha sambar or Sambar with fried coconut
  • Veg Korma 
  • Aviyal 
  • Olan (Ash gourd in coconut milk)
  • Vegetable Stew
  • Ulli Theeyal (Shallots in Coconut Sauce)
  • Onion Curry (Ulli Curry)
  • Pumpkin Erissery (Pumpkins in Coconut Sauce)
Sambar

Sambar | Lentil and Mixed Veggies Curry

This lentil and mixed veggies curry is healthy and easy to make .
5 from 43 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Curry Recipes
Cuisine: Indian
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes minutes
Author :Nish Kitchen
Servings 4 -6
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Ingredients

  • 1 cup yellow split peas, toor dal, or red lentils (masoor dal) I used red lentils. See notes at the end of the recipe.
  • Small lemon sized tamarind soaked in ¼ cup water
  • 2 potatoes cubed
  • 3 - 4 okra cut into small pieces
  • 7 - 8 long beans cut into small pieces
  • 2 small tomatoes cubed
  • 2 carrots cubed
  • 1 cucumber cubed
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 2 garlic cloves crushed
  • 2 - 3 green chilies sliced
  • ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 2 - 3 tablespoon sambar powder
  • A pinch of asafetida
  • Salt to taste
  • Coriander leaves to garnish (optional)

Tempered Spices

  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 2 - 3 dried red chillies broken into small pieces
  • A sprig of curry leaves

Other veggies that can be used:

  • Plantain
  • Yam
  • Snake gourd
  • Bottle Gourd
  • Ivy Gourd
  • Ash Gourd
  • Drumsticks
  • Pumpkin
  • Green Beans
  • Eggplants
  • Cauliflower
  • Broccoli

Instructions

  • Soak tamarind in water. Set aside.
  • Cut all the veggies. Set aside.
  • Rinse lentils thoroughly under cold running water. Place the lentils in a deep pan. Add enough water and cook over medium flame.
  • When lentils are done, add in all the veggies escept okra and tomatoes. This is because they need much lesser cooking time compared to the other veggies.
  • At this stage, you can also add crushed garlic, tamarind water, ground turmeric, and sambar powder. Also add enough salt and mix well.
  • When the veggies are nearly done, add in okra and tomatoes. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.
  • Finally, sprinkle the asafetida and mix well. Let it simmer for 1-2 minutes. Remove from flame.
  • Heat oil in another pan, and splutter mustard seeds. Throw in curry leaves and dried red chilies. Fry them. Remove from flame. Add the tempered spices to the curry and mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves if desired.
  • Serve sambar with rice, dosa, or chapathi.

Notes

You can use either red lentils or yellow split peas in the recipe.
I prefer red lentils as they cook really faster compared to yellow split peas.
If you want to use yellow split peas, soak them overnight, and then cook until they turn mushy. In that case, the cooking time will also increase.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 461kcal | Carbohydrates: 164g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 141mg | Fiber: 37g | Sugar: 57g


 

 

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Comments

  1. Dimple@shivaaydelights says

    August 14, 2014 at 11:44 am

    Yummy...I love the okra

    Reply
  2. Traditionally Modern Food says

    August 14, 2014 at 1:25 pm

    Ladies finger sambar is my al time fav:-)

    Reply
  3. prettypolymath says

    August 15, 2014 at 5:31 am

    We just had a huge harvest of veggies in our garden- this sounds like the perfect way to use them up! It looks so good 🙂

    Reply
  4. [email protected] says

    September 18, 2014 at 8:17 am

    I have been reading out a few of your stories and i can claim pretty good stuff. I will definitely bookmark your site.

    Reply

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