Sambhar Rice Recipe: 5 Tips to Elevate Your Taste Buds!
Sambhar rice recipe is one of my favorite South Indian dishes, despite not being a South Indian. Sambhar rice is a delicious and versatile dish that can be enjoyed by everyone. It is a great way to experience the flavors of South India.
Ingredients
Before we embark on our culinary adventure, let’s gather the essential ingredients for our sambhar recipe soup:
- 2 cups Raw rice -¾ cup
- 1 cup pigeon peas toor dal/Tuvar dal
- Salt as per taste
- 1 tablespoons tamarind paste
- ¼ teaspoons turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon Red chilli powder
- 1 tablespoons ghee
- 1 Onion (medium sliced)
- 100 grams carrots chopped
- 100 grams pumpkin chopped
- 70 grams Tomato chopped
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 2-3 red chilli
- ⅕ teaspoon Hing
- 30 curry leaves
- For Fresh Sambhar Masala
- 2 Tablespoons Coconut
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds jeera
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds sarso/ rai
- 2 teaspoon coriander seeds
- ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds Methi dana
Process for Sambhar Rice Recipe
Let’s dive into the step-by-step process of crafting our homemade sambhar rice recipe:
1. Cooking rice and dal in Pressure Cooker
- Rinse 1 cup Ahrar dal/tuvar dal and 2 cup rice a couple of times in water. Drain out the water and add both rice and dal in a pressure cooker.
- 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.
2. Making Fresh Sambar Masala
- 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 and tamarind is optional but tastes very nice so highly recommended.
- Allow to cool a bit and then make sambar powder.
3. Cooking Vegetables
- First in a heat a pan and add 1tbsp ghee and then add mustard seeds, asafetida, curry leaves, cumin seeds and white Urad dal.
- Add chopped vegetables in the pan and saute them along for 3-4 minutes.
- Add 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.
4. Assemble Sambar Rice
- 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.
Additional Steps to Enhance the Taste
Follow these additional steps to enhance the taste of amazing sambar rice:
- Heat one more tablespoon of ghee, in the pan, add mustard seeds and curry leaves along with dried red chilies.
- Allow the mustard seeds to pop for a few seconds and pour over tadka.
Tips from the kitchen!
- The fresher your ingredients, the better your sambhar rice will taste.
- Don’t overcook the vegetables.
- If you want a thicker sambar, you can add less water. If you want a thinner sambar, you can add more water.
How Healthy Your Dish:
- Sambhar rice is a good source of protein.
- Sambhar rice is a good source of carbohydrates, which provide energy for the body.