Sambhar Rice {Sambhar Sadam} – One Pot Easy Pressure Cooker Meal
Sambhar Rice {Sambhar Sadam}
Laziness has taken over me lately and I am hating every extra single minute spent in the kitchen. Talk about food and I become irritable. That is not a good sign for a Food Blogger. Well I have to feed the family and have to enter the kitchen. Sambhar Rice {Sambhar Sadam} – One Pot Easy Pressure Cooker Meal is the ideal meal to cook in such circumstances.
It is a fast, efficient and effortless meal. I am so glad that I use pressure cooker in kitchen and is my must have kitchen gadget. If you are looking to buy a good pressure cooker, then Hawkins , Prestige and Presto are some good brands.
Sambhar Rice {Sambhar Sadam}
Sambhar Rice or Sambhar Sadam is a regular day affair from Tamil cuisine. A mash made with Rice and Toor / Arhar Dal, cooked together with exotic Indian spices and tamarind, finally tempered nicely with ghee and other spices. Curry leaves add a lot of nutrition value and flavor to South Indian cuisine.
Sambhar is a stew made wirh Arhar / Toor Dal + Vegetables + Spices + Tamarind & Sadam is Rice.
Most of the time, rice and dal is cooked separately and then mixed together with spices and cooked further with tamarind pulp. I have cut down the whole process and simplified the recipe by cooking it in the pressure cooker.
Sambhar Rice {Sambhar Sadam}
My family is a huge fan of South Indian Cuisine. We feast on it quite often, either at home or outside. There is this small “hole in the wall” South Indian cafe near home. They serve the most amazing South Indian Buffet over the weekend and Sambhar RIce or Sambhar Sadam is the hottest dish on the menu. We hog like pigs there and come back stuffed. After that, a long siesta…
How to convert a Vegetarian Curry into Vegan Curry ?
If you are a vegan, you can easily convert a vegetarian recipe into vegan, in following ways.
- If the recipe calls for GHEE, then you may use coconut oil or vegetable oil.
- If the recipe calls for Cream or Milk, then use either almond milk or Cashew paste. For making cashew paste, soak 8-10 cashews in hot water and then grind into fine paste. You may use almond butter or cashew butter too.
- If a curry uses Paneer or cottage cheese, then use Extra Firm Tofu for chunks or soft Tofu for grating and making koftas.
Sambhar Rice {Sambhar Sadam}
Some other South Indian recipes from the blog are – Udupi Style Sambhar , Multigrain Sambhar Rice , Quinoa Uthapam , Idli and more.
This is how to make Sambhar Rice {Sambhar Sadam} – One Pot Easy Pressure Cooker Meal.
- Rice - 1 cup. I used Basmati. You may use any quality.
- Toor / Arhar Dal - ⅔ cup
- Curry leaves - 10 to 12
- Water - 6 to 8 cups
- Ginger - 1 large piece, julienned
- Green Chillies - 2, slit fine
- Onion - 1 medium, chopped in small pieces
- Toamto - 3 small, chopped in small pieces
- Lauki/Doodhi - 1 cup, chopped in small pieces
- Carrots - 2, chopped in small pieces
- Peas - ¼ cup, optional
- Oil - 1 tbsp
- Hing/Asafetida - fat pinch
- Black mustard seeds - 1 tsp
- Cumin seeds - ½ tsp
- Methi/Fenugreek seeds - ¼ tsp
- Haldi/Turmeric - 1 tsp
- Sambhar powder - 3-4 tbsp. Use readymade or home made. I use MTR Brand
- Salt - 2 tsp or to taste
- Tamarind Concentrate - 1 tbsp or more to taste
- Ghee - 1 tbsp
- Black Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
- Red Chillies Whole, Dry - 2
- Chana Dal - ½ tsp
- Urad Dal - ½ tsp
- Curry leaves - 4 to 5
- Red Chili owder - ½ tsp or to taste
- wash and soak the rice and toor dal together till ready to be used. Chop the vegetables and set aside.
- Heat 1 tbsp ghee in the pressure cooker. Add asafetida, black mustard seeds, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds and curry leaves to the hot ghee. Reduce the heat now and add green chillies, ginger and onion to the cooker.
- Cook the onions till soft and pink. Add all the other vegetables, turmeric powder and sambhar powder to the cooker. Mix and stir. Cook for 2-3 minutes till the spice is mixed well.
- Now drain the water from soaked rice and dal. Add rice and dal to the pressure cooker along with salt and water. Stir well. Use 6 cups if you do not like runny consistency. Use 8 cups if you like runny consistency.
- Close the pressure cooker and put on the weight of the cooker. After the 1st whistle, lower the heat to simmer and cook further on low heat for about 7-8 minutes. Switch off the heat.
- Let the pressure escape on its own. Once the pressure of the cooker is released, open it slowly. Add the Tamarind pulp and stir well. You do not have to cook the pulp since it is concentrate and already cooked.
- Sambhar RIce is ready. Now we will make Tempering.
- Take a small pan and heat 1 tbsp ghee in it. Lower the heat, add black mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, dry red chili and curry leaves to the hot ghee. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add red chili powder and switch off the heat. Tempering is ready.
- Serve the Sambhar Rice or Sambhar Sadam in a bowl and add hot ghee tempering on top of it.
- Enjoy it warm.
You can use home made or market bought SAMBHAR MASALA. I use MTR brand and it has never disappointed me.
You can use the spice level and tamarind to your taste, either by decreasing or increasing the heat and sour flavors of the dish. There is nothing right or wrong.
It is a perfect meal for cold winter days or weekends. You can enjoy it during the busy weeknights easily.
Can’t make it now? Pin it for LATER!
Sambhar Rice {Sambhar Sadam}
In my kitchen, you will always EAT HAPPY & STAY HAPPY!
Sonal
Elaine @ foodbod
It looks amazing!
Swati
Beautiful pictures , fantastic recipe and a great tip !
Loretta
It looks so tempting….love the rich array of spices in your sambhar. The photos as always…..eye-catching!