Not many dishes are more authentic South Indian recipes than the good old sambar!
Sambhar is nothing new to South Indian households, but I am sharing the easy way of preparing it with an Instant Pot.
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It's a delicious way to get your daily dose of vegetables because you can add a variety of vegetables to this recipe to get easy variations.
The combination of spices gives it an irresistible flavor, and the cooked vegetables add a hearty texture.
What I like most about this is that the cooking time is cut down in more than half by using an Instant Pot instead of a pressure cooker.
Any way you look at it, we have a winner with this Instant Pot sambar recipe! Check out the recipe details below, and let me know how you like it! I also have a collection of instant pot recipes just like this one.
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What is sambar?
Sambar is a traditional South Indian stew dish featuring various vegetables and lentils cooked in spices and tamarind. This recipe is to recreate the simple South Indian-style mixed vegetable sambar in an Instant Pot.
Why you'll love this
- It's easy to make. All you need is a few ingredients and your trusty Instant Pot.
- This dish is vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut-free. So, it's perfect for just about any dietary preference or restriction.
- It has an amazing flavor thanks to the combination of spices, which can be adjusted to your liking.
- The vegetables add a hearty texture and tons of nutritional value.
- It's an excellent way to use up any leftover vegetables you may have in the fridge.
- It's an authentic sambar recipe that will serve as a side for dosa, vegetable stew, or the main entrée - perfect for busy weeknights!
Ingredients notes
Toor dal: I used split pigeon peas. Always wash and rinse the dal before using it in any recipe. Soaking them in water for 30 minutes will make them softer and easier to cook.
Vegetables: Use your choice of vegetables. Scot only used vegetables are potatoes, eggplant, radish, carrot, onion, and tomatoes.
Sambar powder: Homemade sambar powder gives the freshest and authentic flavor to the sambar. But store-bought powder is good too.
Spices: You will need Mustard seeds, curry leaves, and split black gram for the tempering to enhance the flavor. Other supporting spices are green chilies to suit your taste preference.
See the recipe card for a list of ingredients and quantities, plus recipe instructions. You can find the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to make this recipe
Add oil to the inner pot in your Instant Pot and press the saute option. When the oil is hot add mustard seeds and urad dal.
As the mustard seeds start to sputter, add curry leaves and green chilies and stir well for a minute. Add onions and continue to saute for at least a minute.
Now add tomatoes and let them soften up and then add potatoes. In about a minute, add turmeric and sambar powder and stir well for an even mixture.
Add toor dal, tamarind or lemon juice, jaggery, 2 ½ cup water, and salt.
Close the lid of the instant pot. Turn the steam release handle to sealing position. Press on Pressure cooking( high pressure) setting and set the timer for 6 minutes.
When time is up, open the lid using the quick-release option, or let it cool down naturally.
Garnish with cilantro, and Instant Pot Sambar is ready!
Pairing suggestion
This vegetable Sambar is usually paired with Dosa or Idli. But pairing it with steamed rice or roti is also equally good.
Variations
Lentils: The most common choice I have used is Toor dal. But you could also use red lentils or masoor dal. Change the water ratio accordingly.
Vegetables: Feel free to add seasonal vegetables of your choice. Carrots, potatoes, green beans, cauliflower, zucchini, beets, tindora, etc., would all work perfectly in this recipe.
Spices: Add turmeric powder for its health benefits. Add more or less red chili powder and sambar masala for a milder or spicier flavor.
Other spices: Add cumin seeds instead of urad dal.
Tamarind: A teaspoon of tomato paste would also work instead of tamarind extract or tamarind paste.
Recipe FAQ’s
If you cannot use homemade sambar powder or a store-bought powder, use coriander powder, cumin powder, and chili powder as a substitute.
I don't always make sambar powder at home, So I always keep a few brands of sambar powder handy. Personally, I like MTR sambar powder and Brahmins sambar powder.
It’s all in the ingredients… check out the list, and you will see differences in spices used and the quantity.
It's most likely due to stale sambar powder or if the vegetables you use are slightly bitter...like bitter gourds.
Yes, of course! You could skip the tamarind and substitute it with lemon juice. You could also skip tamarind and lemon juice. But be sure to skip jaggery if you are skipping tamarind.
You can dump all the ingredients and pressure-cook for 6-8 minutes. However, instead of starting with the tempering step, you could temper the spices in a small pan and add them to the sambar as a last step. This helps get fresh flavors from curry leaves when you serve them hot.
Expert tips
- Soak the toor dal for 30 minutes before using it in the recipe. This helps in getting the right texture for the sambar and cooking the lentils faster.
- Try this recipe with red onions. The white or yellow kind is milder than the red version and hence will need more spices to support it.
- Add your choice of vegetables to the sambar recipe.
- The addition of jaggery and tamarind pulp water is optional. But that’s what gives the authentic Udupi-style taste.
- Use any type or brand of sambhar powder.
- If you feel your sambar is light in color, add Kashmiri red chili powder and sambar powder.
- If you prefer a thinner sambar, add more water while cooking the vegetables.
- Adding half a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds (optional) to the tempering is another traditional way.
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📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Vegetable Sambar
Equipment
Process Shot
Check above for step-by-step pictures (most of my recipes include pictures)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut Oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon urad dal
- 2 green chilies - sliced
- 7 curry leaves
- 1 red onions - chopped
- 2 tomatoes - chopped
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 tablespoon sambar Powder
- 2 red potatoes - cubed
- 1 carrot - chopped
- ¾ cup toor dal - pigeon pea
- 2 ½ cup water
- Salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon tamarind concentrates - or 2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon jaggery - or brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder - optional
Instructions
- Add oil to the inner pot in your Instant Pot and press the saute option. When the oil is hot add mustard seeds and urad dal.1 tablespoon coconut Oil, ½ teaspoon mustard seeds, ½ teaspoon urad dal
- As the mustard seeds start to sputter, add curry leaves and green chilies and stir well for a minute. Add onions and continue to saute for at least a minute.2 green chilies, 7 curry leaves, 1 red onions
- Now add tomatoes and let them soften up and then add carrots and potatoes. In about a minute, add turmeric, red chili powder, and sambar powder and stir well for an even mixture.2 tomatoes, ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, 2 tablespoon sambar Powder, 2 red potatoes, 1 carrot, Salt to taste, ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- Add toor dal, tamarind or lemon juice, jaggery, 2 ½ cup water, and salt.¾ cup toor dal, ½ teaspoon tamarind concentrates, 1 teaspoon jaggery
- Close the lid of the instant pot. Turn the steam release handle to sealing position. Press on Pressure cooking( high pressure) setting and set the timer for 6 minutes.
- When time is up open the lid using the quick release option or you could also let it cool down naturally.
- Garnish with cilantro and Sambar is ready!
Video
Notes
- Soak the toor dal for 30 minutes before using it in the recipe. This helps in getting the right texture for the sambar and also in cooking the lentils faster.
- Try this recipe with red onions. The white or yellow kind is milder than the red version and hence will need more spices to support it.
- Add your choice of vegetables to the sambar recipe.
- The addition of jaggery and tamarind pulp water is optional. But that’s what gives the authentic Udupi-style taste.
- Use any type or brand of sambhar powder.
- If you feel your sambar is light in color, add Kashmiri red chili powder along with sambar powder.
- If you prefer a thinner sambar, add more water while cooking the vegetables.
- Adding half a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds (optional) to the tempering is another traditional way.
YOUR OWN NOTES
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimation only.
Judy says
I made this in the normal pressure cooker. The cooking time was more . It cooks faster if the tamarind juice is poured after cooking the dal and vegetables.
It came out just as well.
Just a small query. What is the role of the jaggery? Is it a regulator or just for taste balance?
Uma Raghupathi says
Thanks for your feedback. The role of jaggery is for taste and to bring the balance with tamarind paste. If you add jaggery it will be authentic south Indian sambar.
Ava says
Thank you for this recipe! Looking forward to making it! I wanted to substitute the red lentils with toor dal instead. For that, should the IP pressure time still be kept at 7 mins only with 2 and a half cups of water added? Please do let me know!
Uma Raghupathi says
Hi Ava. If you are using Toor dal rinse well and soak for 15 minutes in warm water. Then add the same amount of water and cook for 7 mins. hope this will help you to make this sambar recipe.
Ava says
Thank you for your response! I can’t wait to make it!! 🙂