Homemade sambar powder recipe to make delicious south Indian lentil-based vegetable stew to go with breakfast items like idli, dosa and vada and rice for lunch!
What is Sambar Powder?
Sambar powder is a crucial spice blend used in South Indian cuisine, especially for preparing Sambar—a popular lentil-based vegetable stew. A sambar powder recipe consists of a combination of lentils, seeds and aromatic spices, carefully roasted and ground to create a rich and flavorful seasoning.
Ingredients
This is a Tamilnadu-style sambar powder recipe and the ingredient listed are all required.
- chana dal (split chickpeas / bengal gram)
- urad dal (split and husked)
- toor dal
- dried red chillies
- coriander seeds
- fenugreek seeds
- cumin seeds
- curry leaves
- black peppercorns
- mustard seeds
- hing
- turmeric powder
Instructions
Making Sambar powder takes less than 15 minutes plus cooling time before you can bottle it up.
Dry roast the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed pan. Cool and then process to fine powder using a mixer grinder.
Spread the ground sambar powder to cool completely before storing.
Use this homemade sambar podi to make my version of Sambar! Check my Coconut chutney recipes that you can serve with idli and dosa.
Related
More recipes using Toor dal or Chana dal:
Tip
Sambar is not the only dish you use sambar powder - you can add this spice mix to soups, sprinkle on dosa, make rasam, etc.
📖 Recipe Card
Sambar Podi Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons chana dal, (split chickpeas or bengal gram)
- 2 tablespoons urad dal, (split and husked)
- 2 tablespoons toor dal
- 50 grams dried red chillies
- ¼ cup coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 1½ tablespoons mustard seeds
- a pinch a pinch of hing
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
Instructions
- Keep all the ingredients measured and ready to use. Make sure to go through each ingredient to remove any debris.
- Heat a cast-iron pan or a thick bottomed pan on low flame. Maintain the low flame throughout the process.
- You may roast each ingredient one by one or one after the other until golden and fragrant. If doing it for the first time, I would suggest one by one method. Roast each item in the order listed above on low flame until fragrant or golden, remove them to a bowl and stir in the hing and turmeric powder.
- If doing one after the other, add similar ingredients together but don't wait for them to turn fully golden before you add the next item. This way, no ingredients will get burnt. Switch off and stir in the hing and turmeric powder.
- Spread the roasted items on a larger plate and let it cool completely.
- Grind or process them until fine.
- Spread the powder on a plate to cool completely before storing it in a clean dry airtight bottle.
Notes
- Before you switch off and stir in the hing and turmeric powder, make sure all the items are roasted and crisp including the curry leaves.
- Before grinding or processing, pick and discard any burnt black items.
- You may add up to 100gms of dried red chilli for a more spicy version.
- The colour of your sambar powder will depend on the type of red chilli used.
- The recipe yields approx 1.5 cups and I use 2 tablespoon for each batch of Sambar recipe.
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