Varutharacha sambar recipe prepared with fresh ground spices like coriander seeds, red chilli, methi seeds, coconut. The ingredients are roasted and ground and added to the sambar for a flavorful sambar.
I am a big fan of varutharacha sambar (sambar with fresh ground spices). I actually am not a fan of everyday sambar I make and eat only if both rice and sambar are hot.
Otherwise I settle for paruppu podi or some other podi and curd rice. But love this varutharacha sambar because first thing I love the procedure, process of making this sambar.
Like coffee, I love to prepare sambar and want to cook the most flavorful sambar. Like some restaurants like Annalakshmi serves. Somehting like the one in kalyana veedu (marriage menu).
So when ever I have few veggies leftover, I make this mixed vegetable sambar with fresh ground masala. At times, save little veggies just to make sambar with fresh masala.
Off late, I make this tiffin sambar with coconut and hooked to it. For sometime now, I want to prepare sambar with coconut for lunch and I tried. Since this one is for rice and I am not comfortable with the consistency of sambar prepared using pressure cooker.
For that reason, I adapted the recipe only a bit and changed to suit it for lunch. It was amazing and totally loved it. This is one of the highly recommended recipes in my blog. So do try it out and thank me later!
Varutharacha sambar recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup Toor dal
- ½ tbsp Tamarind
- 1.5 cups Vegetables I used ½ drumstick, 1 small radish, ½ carrot, 6 broad beans, 6 cubes of yellow pumpkin, 2 brinjals
- 1 Onion
- 1 Tomato
- 2 Green chilli
- ½ tsp Red chilli powder
- ¼ tsp Turmeric
- 8 Curry leaves
- 1 Sprig Coriander leaves
- 1 tsp Jaggery optional
- ⅛ tsp Asafoetida
- Salt – as needed
To temper
- 2 tsp Oil
- ½ tsp Mustard
- ½ tsp Cumin seeds
To roast and grind
- 1 tsp Ghee
- 5 Red chilli dry
- 2 tsp Coriander seeds
- ¼ tsp Methi seeds
- 1 tsp Urad dal
- ¼ cip Coconut grated
- ¼ tsp Asafoetida
Instructions
- Pressure cook ½ cup dal with 1 & ½ cups water for 4 whistles in medium flame.
- I keep tamarind also inside pressure cooker as shown in the picture.
- Mash the dal smoothly. Extract tamarind juice to make it in total 1 cup.
- Meanwhile, cook the veggies with 3 cups water. I first boiled drumstick, radish, carrot, broad beans.
- Heat kadai with ghee, roast first red chilli, coriander seeds, methi seeds, urad dal and asafoetida first until golden. In medium flame without burning it.
- Add coconut lastly and fry till golden. Keep aside and cool it down.
- Heat kadai with oil and temper with mustard, cumin seeds.
- Add chopped onion and tomato, slit green chilli, together and fry for a minute. Tip in to the boiling veggies.
- Once vegetables are cooked, add turmeric, red chilli powder, salt, curry leaves and tamarind juice.
- I added brinjal and yellow pumpkin lastly as it cooks fast. Add asafoetida, cooked dal and adjust water consistency.
- Now, grind the roasted ingredients with little water to a paste.
- Add ground paste, jaggery if adding to the sambar and boil for 3-4 minutes.
- Switch off the flame. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Step by step procedure
1. Pressure cook ½ cup dal with 1 & ½ cups water for 4 whistles in medium flame. I keep tamarind also inside pressure cooker as shown in the picture. Mash the dal smoothly. Extract tamarind juice to make it in total 1 cup.
2. Meanwhile, cook the veggies with 3 cups water. I first boiled drumstick, radish, carrot, broad beans.
3. Heat kadai with ghee, roast first red chilli, coriander seeds, methi seeds, urad dal and asafoetida first until golden. In medium flame without burning it.
4. Add coconut lastly and fry till golden. Keep aside and cool it down.
5. Heat kadai with oil and temper with mustard, jeera. Add chopped onion and tomato, slit green chilli, together and fry for a minute. Add to the boiling veggies.
6. Once vegetables are cooked, add turmeric, red chilli powder, salt, curry leaves and tamarind juice.
7. I added brinjal and yellow pumpkin lastly as it cooks fast. Add asafoetida, cooked dal and adjust water consistency.
8. Now, grind the roasted ingredients with little water to a paste.
9. Add ground paste, jaggery if adding to the sambar and boil for 3-4 minutes and switch off the flame. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve with rice and a spicy curry. We had with vazhakkai curry.
Nice colour and photo clicks of step by step sambar preparation Raks.. Always my favorite arachuvitta sambar:) Will sure try your version of adding red chilly powder.
Thank you 🙂 Do try and let me know how it turned out to be 🙂
Is asofoetida added twice
Yes, once roasted, another raw. Both lends different flavour.
I wish to prepare yellow pumpkin sambar.Am not sure how it will be.I decided to try it and was searching for the recipe.I found your's.After checking this recipe i want to do it 🙂 Will sure try this week and let you know how it tastes.
nice sambar…you mentioned one tomato but used many…what are the tomatoes you used? Are they cherry tomatoes?
Yes, yellow pumpkin is best choice for sambar. It is widely used in marriage menus too. Very flavourful and tasty:)
Thank you so much for your prompt feedback 🙂
Yes they are cherry tomatoes, but if using regular tomatoes, use 1.
Looks Yummy? Your dishes are easy to prepare for lazy ladies like me. Thank you raks for your efforts.
hi raks,
first of all, thank you for this yummy recipe. i tried it out and it came kinda okay. i think i roasted the masala and coconut too much or so. your sambar looks yellow and beautiful but mine was dark brown in color. how much should you roast for the masala ? should the coconut be dark brown ? please advise..
gayathri
Colour depends on the tamarind too. Some tamarind are too dark and makes the colour of the dish so dull. Buy new tamarind (we call it pudhu puli in tamil) which is sweet and light in colour perfect for sambars, not old one.
I try my best to show the colours in stepwise pictures, please refer to it to have it as guidance. Hope this helps
Thank you for the recipe. Sambhar rombha nalla vandhuchi!!
Instead of coriander seed I Want to add powder. How much should I take the corsinder powder?
Coriander seeds tastes best than powder, but you can replace with 1 tsp levelled coriander powder.
This recipe was easy to understand. It turned out well. The taste was like hotel sambhar.