Sambar Saadam

If you are looking for a healthy and easy lunchbox recipe, this is the one...I found this simple and easy recipe at Nags Edible Garden and bookmarked it to try on a lazy morning where I wake up late and have to pack lunch. In this recipe, rice is cooked along with dal, veggies and sambar powder in a pressure cooker. 

Ingredients:

Rice (Sona masoori/Basmati/Ponni) - 1 cup

Toor dal - 1/2 cup

Tamarind - a small piece

Chopped vegetables - I took 5-6 green beans, 1 carrot, 1 potato and 1 tomato which was about 1.5 cups. You may add veggies of your choice.

Onion - 1 small, chopped ( you may use a few shallots instead)

Green chillies - 2, slit

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Sambar powder - 1 tbsp or more (adjust to suit your taste)

Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp (no need to add if your sambar powder is spicy enough)

Asafoetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp

Salt

Water 

For Seasoning

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves - a few

Preparation:

1. Soak the tamarind in 1 cup warm water for 10 mins. Extract the juice and keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and splutter mustard seeds. Add onions, green chillies, hing, turmeric, chilly and sambar powders and combine well. 

3. Now add all the veggies and mix well. Add toor dal and rice and 1 cup tamarind juice. To cook 1 cup of rice, we need 2 cups of water. As  1 cup tamarind juice is added already, add just one more cup of water. I wanted rice to be a little overcooked and mushy like bisibele bath. So I added 1+1/4 cups of water. 

4. Add salt and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles. The number of whistles may vary with the size of your cooker and the quantity you are cooking.

5. When the pressure gets released, open the lid and mix well. Sambar Saadam is now ready.

Sending this to Bookmarked Recipes - Every Tuesday Vol 53 and Anyone Can Cook:Series 29

Also linking to Rice Recipes