Instant Microwave Sambar In 15 minutes

Sambar, a lentil and vegetable-based stew is a favorite in Southern India. Most households make this stew every day as it is a good source of protein for vegetarians. Sambar can be served either with plain steamed rice or with tiffin items like Idly, Dosa, Upma and Pongal. Usually when it is going to be served with rice several different vegetables are added to it.

There are probably a dozen varieties of sambar in the state of Tamil Nadu. Each variety has a slightly different taste. Give a bowl of sambar idly or sambar vada to someone from this state and you will see blissful contentment on his or her face. That is how much people from this state love their sambar.

The version I’m talking about today is the microwave Sambar. This can be quickly put together in fifteen minutes if all the prep work has been done. This recipe comes in handy when you wake up on a  lazy Sunday morning and have no Sambar to serve with Idlys. You can prepare the dal (lentil) powder ahead and store it in the refrigerator. It will keep good for a month. You can prepare this sambar, serve and store it in the same container. Basically, it is a one-pot stew. Of course you need to season the stew on the stove since oil cannot be microwaved.

Mix a cup of water with the dal powder.

Microwave the vegetables until cooked.

Mix in the sambar and turmeric powder with the dal mixture.

Add the dal mixture, tamarind, salt and palm sugar to the vegetables. Microwave for three minutes.

Add seasonings to hot oil. Fry and add to Sambar.

Garnish with cilantro.

Ingredients:

Toor dal powder 3 tbsps

Sambar powder 2 tbsp or desired quantity

Turmeric powder 1/8^th tsp

Any quick-cooking vegetable 1 cup, chopped small

         e.g. Plaintain, Eggplant, Carrots, Potatoes

Tomato 1, chopped

Tamarind Paste 1 tbsp or to taste

Cilantro for garnish

Hot water two to three cups

Palm sugar, a small piece(optional) or sugar

Salt to taste

                 For Seasoning:

                      Oil 2 tsps

                      Mustard seeds ¼ tsp

                      Cumin seeds ¼ tsp

                     Fenugreek seeds a few

                     Curry leaves, a few

                     Chopped onions 2 tbsps

Add one cup of water to the dal powder and mix well. Let this sit until you complete the next step.

Place the vegetables and tomato in a microwavable container. Add one cup of water and microwave for five to seven minutes or until the vegetable is cooked but still firm. There are still a few more minutes of microwaving left, so you don’t want the vegetable to turn mushy at end of cooking.

Microwave ovens vary in capacity so you might have to adjust the timing.

Add the sambar powder and turmeric to the dal and water mixture and mix well.

Remove the vegetables from the microwave and add the dal mixture into it. Add enough salt, the tamarind paste, and palm sugar if using. Mix everything. Microwave for another three minutes. Taste the sambar.

Add more salt and tamarind paste if needed. You can also add more sambar powder and palm sugar at this point.

Microwave for another two minutes.

You can add a bit more water if you like a thinner Sambar.

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the seasoning ingredients in it. Fry until onion turns translucent. Add this to the Sambar. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

You can adjust the quantity of sambar powder, tamarind paste and sugar to suit your taste.

For a video version of this recipe go to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owOWBj-GDIw