Trying South-Indian dishes? You have come to the right place to find your desired recipe.
The most beloved dish of South India is Sambar with Idli. Learn how to make this easy and quick Instant Pot Sambar in a twinkling!
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
This is a South Indian curry recipe packed with a great taste and fully loaded with vegetables.
It has a known combination with idli but can be served with plain rice! Sambar is a lentil-based usually cooked with pigeon pea or Toor daal.
The best part is Instant Pot Sambar recipe takes only almost 15 minutes to kill your hunger!
Recipe Video
Recipe Ingredients
Pigeon Pea or Toor Dal- Mostly eaten in Asia. You can buy it from any market. or you can also add Masur daal or Moong daal along with Toor daal.
Mustard Seeds- Use fried, toasted, or whole. I would suggest you add it as it is.
Sambar Powder- An important ingredient of the south Indian kitchen. Prepared by grinding the different spices and ingredients to make your Sambar quicker.
Curry Leaves- Also known as Sweet Neem, Adds the wholesome flavor to the recipe. Use dried curry leaves to enjoy the real goodness of Instant Pot Sambhar.
How to make
Chop all the veggies.
Put the pot on Saute for 8 minutes.
Pour 2 tablespoons of oil and add mustard seeds into the pot.
Mix the ingredients and add chopped onion into the pot.
Add chopped tomato into the pot.
Add 4 teaspoons of Sambar powder into the pot.
Now, add 4 teaspoons of salt.
Add all the veggies then add pigeon pea or Toor dal into the pot.
Add a dozen of curry leaves into the pot.
Pour 4 cups of water into the pot.
Close the lid and cook at high pressure for 8 mins.
Do a natural release.
Dish out the Sambar and garnish it with your favorite toppings.
How to Serve
It is traditionally served with idli you can also serve it with different kinds of rice:
or you can serve it with your favorite rice. Also, it can be served as it is! Instant Pot Sambar is a great veggie soup to serve!
FAQ
Can I store it for later?
You can easily store the Instant Pot Sambar in an air-tight container for up to 6 to 7 days.
you can easily reheat the instant pot Sambar in the microwave to enjoy the sambar in the next day's breakfast.
What else we can add?
Fruit of the mooring tree 'Drumsticks'. Yes, this can be strange for you but there is a variety of sambar and the drumstick version is one of them.
You can use lime-sized or concentrated Tamarind, cumin seeds to add some more taste.
For spices, you can add serrano pepper turmeric powder to spice it up.
Can I use Ghee?
Yes, you can use ghee to enjoy the great taste if you are a non-veg.
Vegetarians you can add oil that you want to use.
Instant Pot Vegan Recipes
Instant Pot Portobello Pot Roast
Instant Pot Vegetable Recipes
Instant Pot Steamed Vegetables
Instant Pot Brown Rice and Vegetables
Instant Pot Vegetable Noodle Soup
Instant Pot Sambar
Ingredients
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 ginger finely chopped
- 1 carrot cut into small pieces
- 1 eggplant cut into medium-sized pieces
- 1 tomato chopped
- 2 green chilies
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 4 teaspoon sambar powder
- 4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups pumpkin cut into medium-sized pieces
- 2 cups pigeon pea or toor dal washed
- 12 curry leaves
- 4 cups water
Instructions
- Set the instant pot to “Sauté” mode for 8 minutes
- Add oil and mustard seeds into the pot
- Add chopped onions.
- Add tomatoes, sambar powder, and salt.
- Add all the vegetables, toor dal, curry leaves, and water.
- Cook "High Pressure” for about 8 minutes.
- Do a “Natural release".
- Dish out the Sambar and Garnish it with cilantro.
This is a massive recipe. It definitely doesn't fit in my instapot which I thought was large. lol. BUT it is delicious and I really enjoyed it. Some really picky people I served it to felt it was pappu not sambar because of the high lentil content. Just FYI depending on who you plan to serve it to.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And thanks for the tip on pappu vs. sambar, that's good to know.
This is a pretty large recipe, serving 8. It should work in a 6-quart or 8-quart model, but if you have a smaller size, I would recommend decreasing the amount of servings. If you lower the serving count to 4, the recipe will automatically calculate a half batch for you 🙂