Sambar (dish)

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Not to be confused with Sambal or Shambar.

Sambar

Type Stew or chowder

Place of origin India

Region or state South India, Sri Lanka,Myanmar

Main ingredients Tamarind broth, lentils,vegetables

Cookbook: Sambar Media: Sambar

Sambar, also spelt sambhar or sambaar, is a lentil-based vegetable stew or

chowder cooked with a tamarind broth. It is popular in South Indian and Sri
Lankan Tamil cuisines.

Contents
[hide]

1Origins
2Etymology
3Preparation
4Variations
5Serving
6See also
 7References

Origins[edit]
One of the stories is that it originated in the kitchen of Thanjavur
Marathas ruler Shahuji during the 17th century from the southern Indian state
of Tamil Nadu.[1] Shahuji, trying to make a dish called amti, experimented
with pigeon peasinstead of mung beans and tamarind pulp for kokum. The
court named it sambhar after the guest of the day, Sambhaji, second emperor
of the Maratha Empire.[2]
Other sources[?][citation needed] point to sambar's originating in Karnataka,
where sambaru padartha in Kannada means mix of spices and condiments.
There is also an alternate[citation needed] explanation that the origin of the name is
from the old Tamil word chaampu, meaning ground or paste, in the context
of grinding coconut and spices to be dissolved in tamarind pulp. This word is
also the root for the unrelated South East Asian dish sambol.[3]

Etymology[edit]
The word sambar (old Tamil:Champaar - ) stems from Tamil
word Champaaram () meaning spicy condiments. Chambaram
kootu() and chambaram podi ()
means sambar powder.[citation needed]
A Tamil inscription of 1530 CE evidences the use of the word champaaram, in
the sense of meaning a dish of rice accompanying other rice dishes or spice
ingredients with which a dish of vegetable rice is cooked:


Amuthupadi kariyamuthu pala champaaram neyyamuthulppada thalikai
onrukku panam onraak.
Meaning: Cooked rice offerings, including spiced rice (pepper rice or
vegetable rice), many types of spiced rice (pala champaaram) and ghee rice,
at the rate of one panam (a denomination of money) per one portion.
Ka'riyamuthu pala champaaram, as a compound phrase, could also mean
vegetable rice prepared with many spices.

Preparation[edit]
Typical ingredients in a sambar dish

Sambar is made either exclusively with one of these vegetables or a

combination of them:

okra
moringa
carrot
radish
pumpkin
potato
tomato
brinjal (eggplant)
whole or halved shallots or onions.
Sambar often contains sambar powder, a coarse spice mix made of
roasted lentils, dried whole red chilies, fenugreek seeds,coriander seeds and
sometimes asafoetida and curry leaves. Regional variations include cumin,
black pepper, grated coconut, cinnamon, or other spices.[4]
The vegetables, tamarind pulp, sambar powder, turmeric, salt,
and asafoetida are boiled together until the vegetables are half-cooked. Then
the cooked lentils (most often the split pigeon pea) are added and allowed to
cook until the vegetables are done. A spice-scented oil is added to the cooked
sambar for extra flavor and tempering, and the dish is served garnished with
fresh coriander leaves or curry leaves.
The addition of spice-scented oils at the end of cooking is a common Indian
culinary technique. A combination of mustard seeds, black gram, dried red
chillies and curry leaves fried in ghee or vegetable oil is one example of
numerous oil flavourings used for sambar.

Variations[edit]
Sambar is reflective of a broad and ancient tradition of lentil-based vegetable
stews in southern India. In regions that grow coconuts, notably some areas
of Kerala, coastal Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, Sambar is made with a paste of
fresh, grated and roasted coconuts and spices, instead of sambar powder.
Sambar without lentils (but with vegetables, or dried or fresh fish) is
called kuzhambu in Tamil Nadu.

Serving[edit]
Sambar is usually served with steamed rice as one of the main courses of
both formal and everyday south Indian cuisine. A two-course meal of sambar
mixed with rice and eaten with some sort of vegetable side dish, followed by
yoghurt mixed with rice, is a prime southern Indian staple.
Vada sambar and idli sambar are popular for breakfast or an evening snack in
the south Indian states. Roadside restaurants often offer free refills of sambar
for iddli and vadas.
Sambar is also served as a side dish for dosa.

Common sambar serving

Sambar served with idli

Vada sambar


Coconut sambar

See also[edit]
Cuisine of Tamil Nadu
Cuisine of Andhra Pradesh
Cuisine of Karnataka
Cuisine of Telangana
Kerala cuisine
List of soups
List of stews
Udupi cuisine
South Indian cuisine

References[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Sambar
(dish).

1. Jump up^ A wedge of the past, How any of us are aware that in the 18th century
Shahaji, the Maratha king of Thanjavur came up withsambar by mixing tamarind
curry with lentils and named it in honour of his cousin Sambhaji who was visiting
him?
2. Jump up^ The Story of Sambhar
3. Jump up^ "Kamal Haasan, Prakash Raj strengthen encyclopaedia myth on
Sambar". 15 April 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-20. In Eezham Tamil usage, Champal
means a paste or ground salad of spices and scrapped coconut. Sambol in Sinhala
means the same. The same word is used in the Malay of Malaysia and Indonesia
too, to mean a paste of spices served with rice.
4. Jump up^ "Sambar Powder Recipe - Homemade Spice Mix".

[show]

Links to related articles

Categories:
 Tamil cuisine
Telangana cuisine
Karnataka cuisine
Indian cuisine
Rice dishes
Andhra cuisine
Lentil dishes
South Indian cuisine
Vegetarian dishes of India
Burmese cuisine
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This page was last edited on 28 September 2017, at 10:32.

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