ramyaramesh3007This easy one pot sambhar with sweet potatoes and zucchini is packed with flavour and fibre for the most comforting stew.
Traditionally, making sambhar consists of quite a few steps (and lots of utensils!) so hands off to my mum who made it so frequently at home since young because it just isn’t simple! I tried making this easier version in one pot and takes about 1 hour tops – there is not much prep work or soaking involved even though it involves dal in the recipe. If you prefer not to saute the tadka separately, you can also saute the spices after the onions to bring out the flavour in the stew.
I like to make these for weeknight dinners or weekend meals to incorporate more veggies and protein in my diet – and it tastes so so comforting!
Ingredients You Need
- lentils – I used red lentils but you can use moong dal or yellow lentils. Do note that for moong dal or yellow lentils, you need to soak the lentils overnight to 24 hours for safe consumption and easier digestion.
- aromatics – onions, tomatoes, green chili
- veggies – I used sweet potato and zuchinni – but you can add other veggies like carrots, potatoes etc
- spices – sambhar masala, chili powder and turmeric are a must! I added on fennel seeds and for tempering (completely optional) – I used mustard seeds, curry leaves, hing (asafoetida) and dried red chilies.
Allium free substitutions: Omit onions.
Gluten free substitutions: Use gluten free hing (pure hing).
One Pot Sambhar Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion
- 1 large tomato
- 1 green chili
- 1 tbsp sambhar powder
- 1 tsp kashmiri chili powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1 cup red lentils
- 2 small sweet potato or 1 super large sweet potato
- 1 zuchinni
- 5 cups water
- 2 tbsp tamarind concentrate
- 1.5 tsp salt
Tadka
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 sprg curry leaves
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 1/4 tsp hing
- 2 dried red chilies
Garnish
- 3/4 cup chopped coriander
- indian pickle
- vegan yoghurt
Instructions
- Rinse lentils once and drain. Chop sweet potatoes and zucchinni into cubes. Slice onions, dice tomatoes and green chili finely.
- To a big pot, add oil. Saute onions until they are softened.
- Add tomatoes, green chili and saute for 2 minutes.
- Add ground spices – sambhar masala, kashmiri chili powder, turmeric and a pinch of hing. Saute for a few minutes until the oil separates. You can add a splash of water if the mixture is too dry.
- Add rinsed lentils, sweet potato, zucchinni, water and mix well.
- Add salt, black pepper, tamaind concentrate and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring in 10-minute intervals.
- During the last 10 minutes of cooking, prepare your tadka. Heat up oil in a small pan.
- Add mustard seeds, fenugreek, cumin and wait for them to pop (stay safe!). Then add curry leaves – beware of oil splattering!
- Add dried chilies and hing. Swirl it around to even out the roasting of the spices.
- Take off the heat. Immediately pour over the sambhar (remember to do this after the khichdi is done and when you are leaving it in the steam to ensure the oil is still hot when your pour over)
- Give that a good mix and mix in chopped coriander.
- Serve sambhar alongside steamed basmati rice with more chopped coriander. Enjoy!