Sambar Rice (One pot cooking)

Simple, authentic homemade but yummy and common recipe is Sambar rice. I love to make one pot cooking most of the times that too when rushing to office. But always outcome of one pot cooking is awesome. Sambar rice with pappad/ chips/ vadagam is a fantastic combination. My mother-in-law is a  fan of my Sambar rice that too when i serve it hot by adding little ghee to it :).

Its a whole meal as it contains veggies, rice, dhall all combined together. This authentic South Indian sambar rice slightly differs from bisibelabath just by dry roast masala ingredients.

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins
Serves: 4 

Ingredients:

Boiled Rice - 1 cup
Toor dhall - 1/4 cup
Onion - 1 (big size, thinly sliced)
Shallots - 10 nos (optional)
Tomato - 1 (ripen, chopped)
Veggies (cubed/diced) - 1 cup (carrot, beans, potato, brinjal, broadbeans[avarraikai])
Peanut (raw) - 1/4 cup
Sprouted Peas or chickpeas- 1/4 cup
Tamarind extract - 1/2 cup
Sambar powder - 2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Asafoetida - 1/2 teaspoon
Ghee - 2 tablespoon (Optional)
Salt to taste
Water - 6 cup

For seasoning:

Mustard - 1 teaspoon
Urad dhall (split) - 1/2 teaspoon
Dry red chilli - 2
Curry leaves - few
Oil - 2 tablespoon

For making dry roast powder:

Fenugreek seeds (venthayam) - 3 tablespoon

Method:

1. Wash and soak rice, dhall together for 20 mins.
2. Dry roast fenugreek seeds in a kadai. Allow it to cool off and grind it into fine powder.
3. Heat oil directly in pressure pan and add mustard, when it splutter add seasoning ingredients (urad dhall, curry leaves, red chilli) one by one and saute it.
4. Add thinly sliced onion or shallots to it and saute until onion turns into translucent color, then add chopped tomatoes to the pan. Saute it for few mins and add all the veggies, sprouts and peanuts. Once again mix well all the ingredients in the pan to make sure veggies are slighted cooked.
5. Now add asafoetida, turmeric, sambar powder into it and saute well.
6. Add rice and dhall mixture into the pan and mix well with veggies. pour 6 cups of water and 1/2 cup of tamarind extract into the pan. Once again mix well by adding salt to it.
7. Check for the salt and finally add 1 1/2 teaspoon of fenugreek powder into the pan and close the pan with its lid.
8. Put whistle once steam comes out through vent. Wait for 6 whistle and switch off the flame.
9. Once pressure reduces, remove whistle from cooker and open the lid. In the top there will be more water above the rice level. Don't remove the water. Just mix the rice well by adding 2 tablespoon of ghee.

Yummy Yummy hot Sambar rice is ready to be served.

Tips:

1. All Veggies are not compulsory. Its to our choice. Similarly peanut and sprouts are added to enrich the flavor and crunchiness of dish only.
2. Fenugreek powder is added only a little. To make it fine powder minimum 3 tablespoon seed is required in small mixer to blend. Otherwise when quantity to grind is very less we won't get fine powder. You can store this powder for months together.
3. If there is no sambar powder at home, then put 1 teaspoon of chilli powder and 2 teaspoon of coriander powder instead of sambar powder.
4. When sambar rice is mixed at last, it will be in little liquid condition. Once it cool down, it will come into right consistency. This is the same case for sakarrai pongal. It should be little liquid when it is hot, so that after cooling it will the right consistency to eat.
5. Don't change ratio of water for this recipe. If not you wont get soft sambar rice after it cools down.
6. Fenugreek powder are added to increase the aroma of sambar rice.