Saturday means brunch time and what could be better than a South Indian breakfast – yum and delightful !! Today’s dish is Sambar – do I really have to say anything about this? It’s everyone’s favorite, easy to make and so comforting meal when paired up with instant rice idlis or dosa. Since it’s a Navratri week I prepared a no onion no garlic sambar recipe and believe me no one in my family ( huge onion lovers) could make out the difference – it was equally good and tasty.
LOOKING FOR NAVRATRI MEAL PLANNER , FOLLOW THIS LINK.
RECIPE DETAIL – Please do not get intimidated by the long ingredient list, most of it is just spices. Begin the recipe by boiling dal and pressure cook till its soft and tender. Second step involves cooking veggies and adding them to the cooked dal. I have prepared sambar with what all ingredients I had on hand but feel free to throw in your favorite veggies and make it more flavorful. Cook vegetables until they are soft and half cooked – do not overcook them otherwise they will become mushy and fall apart when being boiled with sambar, they should still have a bite to them.
Homemade sambar powder was added to the recipe but feel free to add any store bought sambar masala. If you do not have tamarind, add lemon juice instead. The rest of this recipe just involves simmering and preparing tadka. After tadka has been added to sambar make sure it simmers for a while – the overall combination will be super yummy and packed with flavor.
Enjoy it with steamed rice or instant rice idlis. To complement my meal tonight I have sama rice idlis along with coconut chutney. I always prepare a big batch of sambar and look forward to eat the leftovers the very next day. It’s a total lifesaver and leftover sambar taste even more delicious and yum.
Try out our other dals – Dal Tadka, Dal Makhani, Chana dal with lauki . Also see other No-onion-no-garlic recipes.
Sambar no onion no garlic recipe
INGREDIENTS
BOILING DAL
- 1.5 cup Tuvar dal
- 1 teaspoon Haldi (Turmeric powder)
- Salt to taste
OTHER INGREDEINTS
- 1/2 cup Lauki/bottle gourd, chopped
- 2 small Small eggplant/baingan
- 1/2 cup Chopped Carrots
- 1 medium Chopped tomato
- 1 teaspoon Red chili powder
- 1.5 tablespoon Gur or Jaggery
- A small chunk of Tamarind or 1.5 tablespoon tamarind paste
SAMBAR POWDER - Roast all the ingredients together until you could smell the aroma. Grind it to its powdered form.
- 4 tablespoon Coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon Methi dana (Fenugreek seeds)
- 2 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- 1/4 cup Chana dal OR Bengal Gram
- 2 tablespoon Urad Dal
- 3-4 pieces of Whole red Chilies
- 4-6 leaves of Curry leaves
- 4 tablespoon Unsweetend desiccated Coconut
- 1/4 teaspoon Hing/ Asafoetida
- 2 tablespoon Oil/ghee for roasting
TEMPERING INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon Methi dana (Fenugreek seeds)
- 1.5 teaspoon Skinned and split urad dal
- A pinch of Hing (asofetadia)
- 1/2 teaspoon Cumin seed
- 8-10 leaves of Curry leaves
- 4-5 pieces of Whole Red chillies
- 2 tablespoon Oil
INSTRUCTIONS
BOILING SAMBAR
- Assemble: ingredients to boil dal.
- Clean and wash dal.
- Transfer dal to a pressure cooker, add salt and turmeric powder.
- Cover and pressure cook for 2-3 whistles.
- Dal all done.
- Using a whisk, mash the dal. Set it aside.
COOKING VEGGIES
- Assemble: veggies for dal.
- Soak tamarind in warm water for 15-20 minutes.
- Heat oil in a pan, add carrots and cook for 1 minute. Toss in baingan/small eggplant, tomato, lauki and red chili powder.
- Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes or until veggies are soft and tender. Add sambar masala, jaggery and mix it well.
- Veggies are all ready.
- Add soaked tamarind water to the boiled and mashed dal.
- Return dal to a low flame and add cooked veggies to it.
- Mix and bring it to a boil.
- Cover and allow it to simmer for a while.
PREPARING TADKA/TEMPERING
- Assemble: ingredients for tadka.
- Heat oil in a pan. Add all the ingredients one by one.
- As they star to sputter, add curry leaves..
- And pour this tadka to the boiling dal.
- Mix and allow it to simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
- Adjust seasonings.
- Serve hot with warm white rice or idlis.
super we r hoping some more recipes from u, especially for brahmin people who don’t eat onion and garlic
Thanks Sheshagiri!!
Thanks for this sambhar recipe without using onion & garlic.
You are welcome. 🙂
Ruchi i have been long looking for your sambhar video, but no more able to find it? Can you please repost or send link.
Colin, I think you are confusing me with someone else. I don’t have any recipe videos. All my recipes are here on the blog in a step by step pictorial format.
thankyou good recepie
My pleasure. 🙂
Helloo ruchi..can u please share paneer kolhapuri recipie without onion and garlic.if you do so i will be very thankful to you …..
Ankita, will try my best to fit it in my schedule. 🙂
How to make sambhar without turmeric,onion and garlic
Aru, this is a No onion No garlic sambar recipe. Simply omit the turmeric and you should be good.
It doesn’t say how much water to add to the pressure cooker. Help! I’m in the middle of cooking it.. first time making sambar
Padma, separate the excess water from the dal by carefully straining it through the sieve. Return any dal or veggies left in the sieve to your dal and give it a good boil. Adjust the consistency to your liking. I hope this helps!