An easy recipe for a Crockpot Sambar, a south Indian style dal with veggies for one, or two. This recipe is also fat-free but it is full of flavor.
Do you ever get tired of those leftovers? I know I do.
I cook up a big pot of dal or pasta for Desi and I, and then-- many cooking experiments later-- I am digging it out of the back of the refrigerator. It is covered in fuzzy gray stuff, smells lethal, and I am afraid it's too spoiled to go into the trash. Ugh.
That's why I am madly in love right now with my little baby crockpot. It's really tiny, looks awfully cute, and is perfect for anyone who cooks regularly -- or once in a way -- for just one or two.
Yesterday, I made a fat-free sambar in it that was just enough to fill Desi and me up for dinner, without me having to break out the Tupperware afterwards. It was a simple, totally delicious recipe that required just 10 minutes of prep-- mainly chopping up some vegetables. How great is that?
While crockpots often get associated with cooking meat, they are perfect for vegan or vegetarian cooking. That's because the gentle heat and long cooking period helps the flavors meld together. It's like you spent four or five hours slaving over a hot stove to draw out all those flavors out when all you were really doing was sitting in your porch, sipping a margarita. Or working, which is a lot less fun, so let's go with the porch and the margarita, shall we?
This is a perfect recipe if you are all thumbs when it comes to Indian cooking because you don't really need any technique. You just need to know how to measure and throw things into a pot. And then add some water. And plug the crockpot into an electric outlet.
If that sounded like too much work for you...well, you just need to order in.
Leaving you now with the recipe. Enjoy!
Fat-Free Crockpot Sambar
Ingredients
- ¼ cup masoor lentils or pink lentils (don't use any other kind because they will not break down in the crockpot)
- ¼ medium onion, finely minced
- ½ cup veggies of the kind used in a sambar, chopped in small pieces. I used eggplant, but you can go with carrots, zucchini, pumpkin, red peppers, baby onions, or, if you're hard-core into Indian cooking, drumsticks , bottle gourd, or bitter gourd
- ¼ cup chopped tomatoes or 2 tablespoon tomato puree
- 4 curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon sambar powder
- ½ teaspoon tamarind paste
- Salt to taste
- 1 cup water or vegetable stock
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients in the bowl of your crockpot. Stir thoroughly, and cook for 6 hours or until the lentils are soft and mushy. The dal will get really tender, but it won't break down into a mush, the way it would if you pressure-cooked it.
- Check seasoning and add more salt if needed.
- Serve hot with rice and papads.
Nutrition
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More sambar recipes:
The Vegan Junction
This looks good! Love a good bowl of lentils and veggies 🙂
Minakshi
Tried this recipe for dinner tonight and loved it! I used frozen okra as the vegetable and it turned out great.
Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Aditya Swaminathan
As someone who lives in South India, I am always on the look out for new variations of familiar things. Will definitely give this a try!
East Meets West Veg
I love a nice, thick, homemade sambar! Great idea making a small batch in the crockpot. I have been experimenting with slow cooking Indian food lately too. It definitely makes the house smell amazing when you walk in!
Vaishali
Hi EMWV, yes, the fragrance of the food slow-cooking is definitely one of the big bonuses of crockpot cooking.
Ellen Lederman
WELCOME BACK! So glad all your wonderful posts weren't lost---you make the Internet a better place for those of us whole-food plant-based eaters who love flavorful food.
Been wanting to make a sambar. Only thing holding me back now is the sambar powder. Spice cupboard is already full, so what's one more spice to add? Atlanta has lots of Indian stores, so I can easily buy it.
I kind of get confused between rasam and sambar, but when I have them both side by side at a restaurant buffet, I always seem to gravitate more towards the sambar (thicker? deeper flavor?)
Vaishali
Thanks, dear Ellen. 🙂 You are so very kind. Sambar powder is definitely a worthy investment-- you can add it to other Indian dishes too, including subzis.
You're right that the sambar has more body than the rasam-- rasam is mostly lentil stock and often spicier.