Udupi Vegetable Sambhar
Add 1 Udupi Sambhar potli while the vegetables simmer. Let it infuse for approximately 20 minutes across the vegetable and dal stages, then remove it before serving.
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- Toor dal — 1 cup / 200 g
- Turmeric — ¼ tsp
- Water — 3 cups for pressure cooking
- Drumstick — 1, cut into 5 cm pieces
- Pumpkin — 150 g, cubed
- Carrot — 100 g, sliced
- Small brinjal — 2, quartered
- Tomato — 1 medium, chopped
- Small onions or shallots — 8–10, peeled
- Tamarind — 25 g
- Hot water — ½ cup, for soaking tamarind
- Jaggery — 1 tsp
- Salt — 1¼ tsp, or to taste
- Water — 1½–2 cups, as needed
Zaika Potli
- Udupi Sambhar — 1 potli
For the Tempering
- Coconut oil or neutral oil — 2 tsp
- Mustard seeds — ½ tsp
- Curry leaves — 8–10
- Dry red chilli — 1
Cooking Instructions
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1Wash the toor dal thoroughly. Pressure-cook with turmeric and 3 cups water until very soft.
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2Mash the cooked dal until mostly smooth and set aside.
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3Soak tamarind in ½ cup hot water for 15 minutes. Squeeze well and strain the extract.
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4In a wide saucepan, add drumstick, carrot, pumpkin, brinjal, shallots, tomato, 1½ cups water and the Udupi Sambhar potli.
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5Cover and simmer for 12–15 minutes, until the vegetables are nearly tender but still retain their shape.
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6Add tamarind extract, jaggery and salt.
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7Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes so the raw edge of the tamarind cooks out.
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8Add the mashed toor dal and enough hot water to reach a pourable sambhar consistency.
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9Simmer gently for another 8–10 minutes.
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10Remove the potli.
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11For the tempering, heat oil. Add mustard seeds and let them crackle.
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12Add curry leaves and dry red chilli and fry briefly.
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13Pour the tempering over the sambhar and cover for 1 minute before serving.
Add tamarind only after the vegetables are nearly tender. Strong acidity too early can slow softening, especially for drumstick and some root vegetables.
🍽️ Perfect Serving Pairings
My Take On Udupi Vegetable Sambhar
This sambhar is built around toor dal, tamarind and a mix of vegetables, with the Udupi Sambhar potli supplying the roasted-spice and lentil aromatic foundation during cooking. Because the potli already contains coriander, cumin, fenugreek, chilli, curry leaves, lentils, mustard and asafoetida, the remaining seasoning is kept focused rather than duplicating the same spice set.
The Secret: Add tamarind only after the vegetables are nearly tender. Strong acidity too early can slow softening, especially for drumstick and some root vegetables.