Arachuvitta sambar/ Kadamba sambar is a delicious and aromatic sambar prepared using freshly ground masala and fresh coconut paste. Kadamba means mixed, we are going to use mixed veggies and toor dal thats why we call this as Kadamba Sambar. This recipe does not involve the usage of sambar powder or chilli powder and all the spiciness and flavours come from the ground masala paste. So if you are looking for different sambar recipe with more flavours and distinct taste you can try making this. We don’t need a separate side dish for this awesome Sambar. Just Appalam/papad with this Sambar and rice. This is a very traditional South Indian Sambar.
Recipe by: Nithya and Sathya, Nithya Vs Sathya Kitchen
Ingredients for Arachuvitta Kadamba Sambar
For the Sambar
- Cooked Toor dal -1 cup
- Tamarind – small lemon size
- Small onion – 7 Nos
- Green chilli – 2 Nos
- Snake Gourd (pudalangai) -1
- Drumsticks -1 No
- Ladies finger -5 Nos
- Raw Mango – 1/2
- Carrot – 2 Nos
- Plantain -1
- Bitter gourd – 3 small pieces
- Brinjal – 4 Nos
- Potato -2 Nos
- Tomato – 2 Nos
- Coriander stem -1/4 cup
For the Arachuvitta Sambar Masala
- Red chillies -8 to 10 Nos
- Coriander seeds – 4 Tsp
- Raw rice – 1 Tsp
- Chana dal -1/2 Tsp
- Toor dal -1 Tsp
- Whole black pepper -1/2 tsp
- Cumin -1 Tsp
- Small onion -2 Nos
- Curry leaves
- Fresh coconut pieces- 2 to 3
For Seasoning
- Mustard seeds – 1tsp
- Small onion – 5 Nos
- Fenugreek seeds – 1/4 tsp
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- Red chilies – 1
How to Make Arachuvitta Kadamba Sambar
Step 1: Prepare the Tamarind and Dal
- Soak tamarind in hot water for 15 minutes and extract its juice. Discard the pulp.
- Soak toor dal in 1 cup of water for 15 minutes.(Soaking helps the tur dal to get cooked well and also saves time and fuel.) Pressure cook tur dal for 3 whistles or until soft. Mash tur dal well and keep it aside.
Step 2: Cook the Vegetables
- Heat oil in a vessel and add small onion, green chilli and saute for 1 min. First add ladies finger(to remove sticky texture) and saute for 3 minutes. Then, add chopped tomatoes and saute for 2 minutes.
- Now add the vegetables(Pudalangai, Drumsticks, Raw Mango, Carrot, Plantain, Bitter gourd, Brinjal, Potato) and saute for 2 minutes. Then add required salt and water, cover the lid and cook all vegetables, it would take 15 to 20 mins
Step 3: Roast and Grind the Masala
- Heat a pan, dry Roast Red chillies for 2 min and transfer to mixer jar and then dry roast Pepper, toordal, chana dal in medium flame for a minute. Once Toordal, chana dal turns to golden colour, add Coriander seeds, small onion, curry leaves to the pan in medium flame and roast for 3 minutes. Finally add raw rice, cumin and dry roast for a minute. Now nice aroma comes from pan.
- Now transfer all the roasted items to the mixer jar. Allow the spices to cool down.
- Blend the mixture in jar coarsely. Now Arachu vitta sambar masala is ready.
Step 4: Bring the Sambar Together
- Once vegetables are half cooked, add Tamarind water and mix well. Close the lid again and cook for another 10 minutes.
- Mix cooked toordal and Arachu vitta sambar masala together without any lumps. Add little water if needed.
- Add mixture of cooked toordal and Arachu vitta sambar masala to cooked vegetables.
- Add chopped coriander stem
- Grind coconut pieces in Mixer jar with little water.
- After sambar starts boiling, add grind coconut paste
Step 5: Temper and Finish
- Heat 2 tbsp sesame oil in a pan. Then add 1 tsp mustard seeds and let them crackle.
- Then add Fenugreek seeds, chopped Small onion, red chilli, curry leaves. Sauté till small onion turns golden brown.
- After small onion turned golden brown, add seasoning to sambar and cook for 5 mins in medium flame
- After 5 minutes, oil separate from top of sambar. Now yummy Arachuvitta Sambar is Ready
Frequently Asked Questions
What does arachuvitta mean in arachuvitta sambar?
Arachuvitta is Tamil for “ground and added”. Instead of using ready-made sambar powder, the masala for this sambar is freshly roasted, ground and stirred into the dal and vegetables.
Why is it called Kadamba sambar?
Kadamba means mixed. The sambar is made with a mix of vegetables, including snake gourd, drumstick, ladies finger, raw mango, carrot, plantain, bitter gourd, brinjal and potato, cooked with toor dal.
Does this sambar use sambar powder or chilli powder?
No. All the spice and flavour come from the freshly roasted masala of red chillies, coriander seeds, dals, pepper, cumin and coconut.
What should I serve with Arachuvitta Kadamba Sambar?
It needs no separate side dish. Serve it with steamed rice and appalam (papad).
About the Recipe Creators
We, Nithya and Sathya are proud homemakers and parents of two kids. We are from Chennai, India. We bonded in Germany and as our interests coincided in fulfilling our kids demand of variety of foods, we ended up creating Nithya Vs Sathya Kitchen.
Nithya Vs Sathya Kitchen is a multicuisine food youtube channel with recipes in native language and subtitles in English. This channel provides you with kids friendly, healthy and tasty recipes(both vegetarian and non-vegetarian). We will come up with more interesting recipes in our channel. Watch out for more. Happy Cooking.
Channel link for more recipes https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVSzbDMyeBn6HrkKuuC2gMg
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