Anyway, here’s how I make mine, the easy, quick version of Sambar Sadam made in a pressure cooker. What I Use: Rice – 1.5 cups I use ponni or basmati but the regular rice you use every day will work just fine. Toor / tuvar / kandi pappu / pigeon peas – 3/4 to 1 cup Tamarind – a marble-sized ball or 2 tbsp tamarind paste Chopped vegetables – 1.5 cups You can use any vegetables you have in hand like French beans, carrots, potatoes, peas, tomatoes, drumstick, capsicum, etc. Shallots – 6 (optional) Green chillies – 2 Sambar powder – 1.5 to 2 tbsp Hing / Asafoetida / Perungayam – 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder – a pinch For tempering: Oil – 1 tbsp Mustard seeds – 1 tsp Curry leaves – a few Shallots – 2, sliced thin (optional) How to make Sambar Sadam in a Pressure Cooker: 2. Heat oil for tempering in the pressure cooker pan and add the rest of the ingredients. Fry the shallots for tempering, if using, until golden brown. Then add the hing, green chillies, turmeric and sambar powder and mix well for 10 seconds. 3. Add all the ingredients and sufficient water. To cook the rice I use every day, the ratio of rice:water is 1:2. Since I have used 1.5 cups rice here, I need 3 cups water in total. Tamarind juice is in 1 cup water so I added approximately 2 more cups of water to the cooker. Its fine if its slightly more than that. 4. Cook for 3 whistles. If you like your sambar sadam a bit mushy, then cook for 4 whistles and make sure you add slightly more water than specified above. 5. Wait till pressure leaves and serve hot with vadaam / chips / appalam and raita / curd.
