Bachelor Sambar Powder Recipe

Instant Sambar Powder

I am truly blessed to have such a loving perimma / aunt. She is a gem and in fact she is a great cook too. Her rasam powder is truly a hit. This is one of the awesome recipe which she gave me. I was truly honoured to share it with you all because I know it is going to save you many hours. She made this sambar powder for her son/ my brother who have to go abroad because of job. So I call this bachelor sambar and imagine a bachelors relieve when he can make an instant sambar after a tiring day at work to have with rice or anything. I have a perfect sambar powder recipe in this blog. But this one is an instant version. Because if you have this sambar powder on hand, u can whip up the delicious sambar even in the peek hour, because this is going to take just less than 15 mins for you.

About Instant Sambar Mix

This homemade instant sambar mix is made by roasting lentils, chillies and spices. Roasted spices and dal is then ground to form a coarse powder. You can store this instant mix at room temperature for over a month. Homemade sambar mix is made with toor dal, coriander seeds, dry red chillies, cumin, fenugreek, asafoetida and tamarind. Instead of toor dal you can use chana dal as well. When making instant sambar. Saute onions, tomatoes along with instant sambar mix and boil for few minutes till thickened slightly. I added coriander leaves into the sambar to add fresh aroma. Serve this instant sambar with idli, dosa or rice.

Similar Recipes,

Sambar Powder Rasam Powder Garam masala powder Vatha kulambu podi

Instant Sambar Powder Ingredients

Instant sambar powder is made with basic ingredients which you already have on hand. So here is it for you. Toor Dal - Used to create the bulk in this instant sambar powder. You don’t need to add cooked toor dal in this recipe. Roasted toor dal helps thicken the sambar and gives the taste. Coriander Seeds - Totally for aroma and very essential for the unique sambar taste. Usually coriander seeds are added two to three times of the chilli measurement. Dry Red Chillies - You can always use half dry red chillies and half Kashmiri variety if you want less heat and more colour. Cumin and Fenugreek - adds to the unique aroma of the sambar powder. Asafoetida - Asafoetida or Hing is a spice which lifts the whole sambar to the entire level so never skimp on it. Tamarind - This recipe has tamarind added as well so you don’t need to add extra tamarind when making sambar.

How to Make Sambar Using Instant Sambar Powder

This sambar has no dal or tamarind in it, so it fit a perfect title of bachelor sambar. But when you taste this sambar you will never find any difference at all. It taste just as good as normal sambar which you make. I made a simple sambar using onions and tomatoes, but you can add any veggies in this. But the main thing is you need a good amount of onions and tomatoes to make this, because that what makes it very tasty, since you don’t add any extra tamarind. For making tiffin style sambar, just use onions and tomatoes as shown below. This style of sambar goes well with your tiffin recipes like idli, dosa, pongal and upma. For making sambar which goes well with rice, I recommend you to add mixed vegetables and extra tamarind.

How to Make Instant Sambar Mix (Stepwise Pictures)

Roasted Dal

1)Take toor dal in a dry pan. Roast on low to medium heat till slightly golden and aromatic. It will take around 8 to 10 minutes. 2)Remove the roasted dal to a plate and allow them to cool.

Roast Ingredients

3)In the same kadai. Add in dry red chillies in the pan and roast for 2 to 3 minutes. 4)Now the chillies is roasted. 5)Take the chillies in the same plate and allow them to cool. 6)In the same pan, add in coriander seeds. Roast coriander seeds on low medium heat till aromatic. 7)Remove the roasted coriander seeds in the same plate. 8)Add in cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds in the same kadai. Roast for 1 minute. 9)Remove it to the same plate. 10)Now turn off the heat, add in turmeric and asafoetida and give a good mix for 10 seconds. This is to heat turmeric and asafoetida. 11)Remove this to the same plate. 12)Now turn off the heat. Add in tamarind and saute the tamarind in the residual heat for 1 minute. This is to remove any excess moisture from the tamarind. 13)Remove the tamarind to the plate. Now allow the whole roasted mixture to cool completely.

Grinding Instant Sambar Mix

14)Now take the cooled mix into a blender except tamarind. If you are making bigger batch, grind it in batches. 15)Grind it to a powder. It doesn’t have to be fine. You can make it slightly coarse too. 16)Add the roasted tamarind in the instant mix. 17)Grind the tamarind into the powder. 18)Instant sambar mix is ready. You can store this in an air tight container.

How to Make Sambar (with Instant Mix)

1)Heat oil in a pot. Add in mustard, urad dal and asafoetida. 2)Add in curry leaves and let them sizzle. 3)Add in sliced onions, green chillies. 4)Sprinkle some salt and saute them for 2 to 3 minutes. 5)Onions are sauted. 6)Now add in tomatoes. 7)Cook tomatoes till it soften. 8)Add in the instant sambar mix. 9)Mix that into the onion and tomato mix. 10)Pour water and mix well. 11)Sprinkle very little sugar or jaggery. This is to balance the taste. 12)Bring it to a full boil. 13)Cover the pot with lid and cook on low heat for 5 to 10 minutes. 14)Add in coriander leaves. 15)Mix well. 16)Instant sambar is ready to serve.

Expert Tips

This sambar powder is very helpful when you dont have much time. You don’t need cooked dal when you make sambar using this powder. Just add this powder to veggies and cook it. Instant tasty sambar is ready. You can add any vegetables into the onion tomato to make sambar. Instead of toor dal, you can use half toor dal and half chana dal.

Storage

This Instant sambar mix can be stored in an air tight container for 2 months or more.

More Sambar Recipes to Try

📖 Recipe Card

If you have any questions not covered in this post and if you need help, leave me a comment or mail me @[email protected] and I’ll help as soon as I can. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook,Pinterest ,Youtube and Twitter for more Yummy Tummy inspiration.