Sambar Powder Recipe | Sambar Masala Recipe

Sambar Powder is a masala blend of lentils and spices that makes Sambar taste delicious. Sambar Podi or Sambar Masala is a handy spice blend mix common in most of South India households stocked to make Sambar effortlessly. Sambar powder enhances the taste and makes sambar flavorful, aromatic and tasty too.

Sambar Masala or Sambar Powder is flavorful when made at home rather than buying it from stores. You can feel the taste difference significantly when you try making sambar with the homemade sambar powder. It takes the taste of sambar to a whole new level.

About Sambar Powder

Sambar Powder is one of the most essential spice blend mix needed to make Sambar. Sambar Powder or Sambar Masala is made using lentils, red chilies and few spices. Sambar is a South Indian curry made using lentils and vegetables. Sambar is served with tiffin items and also with rice.

There are many sambar powder recipes across South India prepared using varying ingredients and this recipe I have posted here is passed from my grandmother. Amma learnt it from and I got the recipe from amma’s cookbook. This sambar powder is very popular among my friends and relatives that I usually make a big batch and pack it when I visit them.

Amma’s sambar is very popular during my school and college days that my friends ask me to bring a separate dabba of sambar for them. I use this sambar masala even for puli kulambu and tamarind based curries and it tastes soo good.

Sambar Powder is a handy ingredient to make tasty, flavorful sambar easily & quickly. Sambar made with this Sambar Powder Recipe makes the dishes tastier – Idli, Dosa, Pongal, Vada, Oothapam gets to another level.

Sambar powder is an assortment of spices – They have rich medicinal value and makes the dish healthy & tasty to relish. Mittu just loves sambar especially this sambar – she would literally drink it with a spoon sometimes. For her sake, sambar is in our menu at least twice a week.

Sambar Powder – Sambar Masala – Sambar Podi

Sambar Powder, Sambar Masala, Sambar Podi, Thanjavur Sambar Podi, Udupi Sambar Powder, Iyengar Sambar Podi, Brahmin Sambar Podi all means one and the same Sambar Powder. Sambar powder is called in different names as they are vary slightly with regions & ingredients but the core Sambar Powder recipe is the same.

Sambar Powder Video

Sambar Powder Ingredients

• Red chillies or Laal mirch – Red Chilies makes the Sambar powder spicy. The quantity can be adjusted based on the family liking (mild spicy to very spicy). I have used round variety of red chilli for home style Sambar Powder(but you can replace it with regular chillies too) and the long variety of red chilli for Traditional Sambar Powder. Bydagi & Kashmiri Chillies can also be used individually or with a mix of one or more variety and both of them give excellent color and are less spicy. 
• Lentils / Dal – Toor Dal, Urad Dal and Chana Dal are added in equal proportions which makes the base of Sambar Powder. Dals influence the taste & color of Sambar powder.
• Coriander / Dhaniya – Coriander seeds is another key ingredient in Sambar Powder. Coriander seeds have a great flavor when crushed and thus the sharp differentiating taste of Sambar Powder.
• Fenugreek / Methi – Fenugreek seeds gives aroma & nutty, slightly bitter taste to Sambar Powder. Do not use fenugreek more than prescribed quantity as it will make the Sambar bitter.
• Black pepper or Kali Mirch or Pepper Corn – gives the sharp spicy taste to the Sambar Powder. It helps in digestion and weight loss by improving the metabolism of the body.
• Cumin – also called as Jeera adds earthy, warming and aromatic flavors to Sambar Powder. Jeera also aids in building up our immunity and has anti-bacterial properties.
• Mustard seeds – Adding mustard is this sambar powder recipe’s specialty as I haven’t seen many of them adding mustard in sambar powder. Mustard have anti-inflammatory properties and aids in digestion.

Sometimes we do not need answers to all the questions when we are comfortable with it. Especially question like: Why I make Sambar for the 4^th time in this week when it is barely Wednesday? Sambar made with my Mom’s sambar powder recipe gives that emotion. This Sambar powder recipe is from my mother’s handwritten book which was originally passed over orally for generations together.

I have shared my family’s recipe passed over generations, you can try at home that will surely keep your family happy even when you make sambar 7 days in a week. Yes trust me and try it.

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How to make Sambar Powder Step by Step

1.Measure and keep the ingredients ready. First dry roast 3 cups red chilies along with ¼ cup urad dal till dal turns golden brown and chilies turn slightly browned and crisp, transfer to a plate. If dry red chilies is roasted separately it may get burnt easily so always roast it along with any dal.

2.Dry roast ⅛ cup pepper until crisp, let it crackle then transfer to the same plate and set aside.

3.Dry roast ¾ cup coriander seeds until golden and aromatic. Transfer to the same plate and set aside.

4.Dry roast 1 tablespoon fenugreek seeds until golden. Transfer to the same plate and set aside.

5.Next dry roast ⅛ cup cumin seeds until golden brown. Transfer to the same plate and set aside.

6.Then dry roast ¼ cup chana dal until golden brown. Transfer to the same plate and set aside.

7.Dry roast ¼ cup toor dal until golden. Transfer to the same plate and set aside.

8.Finally add 1 tablespoon mustard seeds let it splutter, transfer to the plate and set aside.

9.Cool down the roasted ingredients completely.

10.Transfer the ingredients to a mixer jar.

11.Grind it to a fine powder.

12.Spread it over a plate to cool down and then store in a clean airtight container.

Fresh aromatic sambar powder is ready!

Expert Tips

• Roasting vs Sun drying – You can even sundry the ingredients till crisp and then give for grinding. I usually prefer roasting as it is quick and easy.
• Red chilies – Adjust red chilies according to your spice level – 3 cups can be increased to around 4 cups or more if you prefer sambar powder to be spicy.
• Color – The color of the powder largely depends on the red chili variety. Also always fry red chilies along with the dal to avoid burning. If the red chilies turn dark/black then it will affect the color and taste of the sambar powder too.
• Making in bulk – If you are grinding in bulk you can give it to flour mill for grinding which will give a more fine powder. If you are making in a small batch you can grind it your regular mixer itself.
• Cooling – Make sure you cool down completely before you grind it. Also after grinding spread it on a plate, let it cool down before you store.

Storage

Sambar Masala looses flavor and aroma through evaporation when exposed to too much of light, air so store in airtight container. You can scale up or down the recipe depending on your needs!

Sambar Powder quantity prescribed in this post lasts for about 6 months for us with usage of at least 2 times a week. I usually transfer half of it to a separate container and store it for later use sometimes I refrigerate it. For daily use I use a small container in the kitchen. Sambar Podi keeps well for 3 months in room temperature and even for a year in fridge / freezer

FAQS

1.What can we make with Sambar Powder?

Of course Sambar!  It can be added for Kuzhambu, Kootu, Poriyal and as a replacement for Kuzhambu Milagai Thool & Curry Masala Powder when you run out of stock with them!

2.How do you make Sambar Powder?

Dry roast spices, lentils, chili separately and grind them in mixer grinder to make Sambar powder. Alternatively you can sun dry them until crisp and grind it too but roasting gives more flavor.

3.Is all the spices & dals mandatory for making sambar powder?

Yes – use prescribed ingredients which gets tasty sambar. If you are running out of stock, you can skip urad dal, cumin, turmeric and mustard. Additionally you may use hing, roasted curry leaves. Also you can add powders if you do not have in seeds form. You can also add desiccated coconut to make it tastier, but the shelf life comes down by half!

4.Is there any specific variety of red chilli that is used for Sambar powder?

You can use bydagi, kashmiri chili or round variety of red chili for making sambar powder.

5.Is Sambar Powder necessary for making Sambar?

Not necessarily – however having sambar powder handy at home reduces the effort in making sambar all time. We can grind all the spices fresh each time to make Sambar but who would not want to save time unless you are making it big for marriage like function! Make sambar easily with sambar powder.

If you have any more questions about this Sambar Powder Recipe do mail me at sharmispassions@gmail.com. In addition, follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest ,Youtube and Twitter .

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