Drumstick sambar

Drumstick sambar recipe – Sambar is a basic lentil soup from south Indian cuisine and is commonly eaten with rice or Idli & Dosa. There are not many variations of making sambar and the sambar powder too. In most sambar recipes, the ingredients used are same but what makes them different is the proportion of ingredients and the veggies used.

Sambar acquires its taste from the vegetables used. Most times vegetable drumsticks are used to make sambar which give a distinct taste. These are known as munagakaya, murungakkai or nugekkai in south Indian languages.

Apart from adding drumstick to sambar I also use them to make
Drumstick recipe with potatoes
Drumstick curry
Drumstick pickle

Drumstick sambar is also known as murungakkai sambar in Tamil cuisine. What I have shared here is the way we make it at home.

This drumstick sambar is made the same way as regular vegetable sambar which I had shared earlier. But the ingredients used here are different. Drumsticks replace all the other veggies in this recipe hence more drumsticks are used than we use in regular sambar.

Preparation

1. Wash dal a few times with lot of water. Then fresh pour water to cook dal. I have used toor dal and just 2 tbsps of moong dal. You can use only toor dal also.

2. Cover and pressure cook the dal on a medium flame for 2 whistles or until completely soft cooked.

3. When the pressure goes off the cooker, mash the dal completely. It must be smooth.

4. While the dal is cooking, wash the drumsticks. Lightly scrape off the skin and cut them to 2 inch pieces. Discard both the ends. If you are using home-grown drumsticks then don’t need to scrape the skin.

Making drumstick sambar

5. Then add them to a pot along with shallots or onions and green chili. If you do not have shallots you can also use medium sized onions. Halve them and add. I do not saute the veggies but if you wish you can saute them for a 2 mins in 1 tsp oil. But there will be no difference in the taste.

6. Next add in chopped tomato.

7. Pour 2 to 3 cups of water. The amount of water to use depends on the consistency you prefer. I normally do not make very thick sambar.

8. Cover and cook until the drumsticks are half cooked.

9. When the water becomes hot, take a ladle full of hot water to a bowl. Soak tamarind in it. When the temperature reduces, mash the tamarind and set aside.

10. Check if the drumsticks are half cooked, then add in ginger garlic paste. If you do not like it you can skip but it adds lot of flavor.

11. Then add salt.

12. Next add sambar powder and chili powder (optional).

13. Now add in turmeric and mix well.

14. Cook until the drumsticks are completely done. By then the raw smell of ginger garlic paste and chilli powder goes away.

15. Then pour the tamarind water. I prefer to filter it.

16. Next put in fresh grated coconut. If you do not have fresh grated coconut just skip it. Do not use desiccated coconut or frozen coconut. Let the sambar begin to bubble.

17. Then pour the dal and mix.

18. Add in the coriander leaves and lower the flame completely Check the salt and sourness. If desired add more salt and tamarind if needed.

Tempering drumstick sambar

19. Pour ghee and heat it in a small pan on a medium high heat.

20. Add mustard, jeera and methi seeds. When they begin to splutter, add in garlic, red chili and curry leaves.

21. Then add hing.

22. Quickly pour this to the sambar and turn off the heat. I prefer to pour 2 to 3 ladles of sambar to the tempering pan as the aroma is totally different when done in that way.

23. Then I pour back the tempered sambar to the pot.

24. Serve drumstick sambar with rice, idli or dosa.

More South Indian recipes
Veg kurma
Tomato rice
Idli sambar

Tips

1. The tempering is made with a generous amount of ghee which elevates the flavor and taste of this drumstick sambar. However if you are a vegan you can just temper the dish with any regular cooking oil.
2. Ginger and garlic paste are not regular ingredients in a vegetable sambar but this recipe uses it as the key ingredient to enhance the flavor. If you do not eat garlic, you can skip the both ginger & garlic as I have not tested the recipe just with ginger.
3. The next ingredient is the fresh coconut that adds a different taste & texture. If you do not have fresh coconut you can just skip it but do not use desiccated coconut or copra as it alters the flavor & taste of drumstick sambar.
4. I have used toor dal and just 2 tbsps of moong dal. You can use only toor dal or a mix of both just like the way I did. Moong dal adds thick texture to the dal.

For the best taste use tender drumsticks. You can serve this drumstick sambar with rice, idli or dosa.

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