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Home » Recipes » Kerala and South Indian Recipes

Instant Pot Sambar | South Indian Kerala Style

Published: Mar 12, 2019 | Updated: Aug 2, 2023 | Author: Neena Panicker

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Instant Pot Sambar pinterest pin - two bowls of sambar with tomatoes, eggplant okra, garnished with cilantro - Paint the Kitchen Red

This Authentic Instant Pot Sambar recipe is a delicious vegetable lentil stew recipe from the South Indian state of Kerala.  This easy sambar is normally eaten with the South Indian staples of idli, dosa, vada, or rice but you could serve it as a soup or stew.  Use your choice of vegetables for sambar.

Instant Pot Sambar - two bowls of sambar with tomatoes, eggplant okra, garnished with cilantro

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Sambar (pronounced ‘saam-baar’) is a boldly flavored South Indian vegetable lentil stew. What was originally a South Indian dish has become popular all over India and the world.

There are so many versions of sambar because different states, communities and households have their own adaptations of this delicious recipe.  It’s an almost-daily staple in South Indian households. 

As a matter of fact my niece who’s grown up in the US wanted sambar and rice every single day when she was little!  The protein and vegetables make it quite a healthy choice.

This authentic sambar recipe comes from the South Indian state of Kerala – which is where my family is from – and it’s my mom’s recipe. My mom has two versions of sambar: with coconut (varutharacha sambar) and without coconut.

Despite the lengthy ingredients, this recipe is actually really quick and easy!

➡ Looking for more South Indian recipes? Try my Kerala Egg Curry, Vegetable Stew, Kerala Fish Curry, Kerala Beef Stew, Instant Pot Coconut Chicken Korma, Kerala Parippu Curry, or Stovetop Kerala Chicken Curry. You’ll love them as much as I do!

Instant Pot Sambar – Ingredients

Instant Pot Sambar Ingredients 1 - eggplant, cucumber, okra, water, tomato, onion, toor dal
Instant Pot Sambar Ingredients 2 - salt, mustard seeds, sugar, curry leaves, coconut, oil, tamarind, sambar powder, turmeric, cilantro

How to Make Instant Pot Sambar

Instant Pot sambar instruction collage - lentils, vegetables, cooked, fried mustard.
  1. Add water to Instant Pot inner pot. Add rinsed toor dal and turmeric. Stir to combine, pressure cook for 10 minutes and do a natural pressure release.
  2. Add water, eggplant, cucumber, okra, tomato, onion, salt, sambar powder, sugar and tamarind.
  3. Pressure cook for 1 minute and do a quick release or cook vegetables in Saute mode. Stir to combine.
    [Optional: Saute grated coconut until deep golden brown, blend with a bit of water, and stir into the sambar.]
  4. Preheat a small frying pan and add oil. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and cover with a splatter screen or lid. When the mustard seeds stop popping, remove the lid and add the curry leaves. Saute the curry leaves for a few seconds until fragrant. Add the mustard seeds and curry leaves to the sambar and heat through in Saute mode. Press Cancel and add cilantro. Stir until combined.
Instant Pot Sambar L1 - two bowls of sambar with tomatoes, eggplant okra, garnished with cilantro

Instant Pot Sambar

This Authentic Instant Pot Sambar recipe is an easy vegetable lentil stew recipe from the South Indian state of Kerala. This boldly flavored sambar is normally eaten with the South Indian staples of idli, dosa, vada, or rice but you could also eat it as a soup or stew. Use your choice of vegetables.
5 from 6 votes
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Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 104
Author: Paint the Kitchen Red
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Equipment

  • Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
  • Small nonstick frying pan
  • Splatter Screen
  • Blender

Ingredients
  

  • 3 ½ cups water
  • ½ cup toor dal rinsed well, till water runs clear
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 cup eggplant (about ½ eggplant) cubed into ¾ inch pieces
  • ½ cup English cucumber (about ¼ cucumber) peeled and cubed into ¾ inch pieces
  • ½ cup okra frozen or fresh
  • 2 cups tomatoes chopped
  • 1 cup onion chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste (I prefer 1 ¼ tsp)
  • 1 tablespoon sambar powder or more to taste
  • 1 ½ teaspoon granulated sugar or jaggery or brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoon tamarind paste (or more to taste) *
  • ¼ cup grated coconut fresh or frozen (optional)
  • water to blend coconut about 3 to 4 tablespoon (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil or vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
  • 12 curry leaves fresh or frozen
  • 2 tablespoon cilantro chopped, to garnish

Instructions
 

  • Stir together 2 cups water, rinsed toor dal, and turmeric in the inner pot.
  • Close the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 10 minutes and allow for a natural pressure release. [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods].
  • Press Cancel and open the lid.
  • Mash the dal with the back of a large spoon or potato masher.
  • Stir in 1 ½ cups water, eggplant, cucumber, okra, tomato, onion, salt, sambar powder, sugar and tamarind.
  • Close the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 1 minute, open the lid and do a quick release of pressure.  [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods].
  • Press Cancel and open the lid.
  • Optional:
    – Dry roast the coconut over medium heat in a small frying pan, stirring constantly. Remove from heat when the coconut is a rich golden-brown color. This can take about 10 to 15 minutes. Be careful not to burn! 
    – Transfer the coconut into a mini blender bowl and add 3 tablespoon water. Blend the coconut and water into a smooth paste. If the coconut mixture does not move in the blender, add a bit more water, one tablespoon at a time. Don't add too much water. 
    – Stir the coconut mixture into the sambar.
  • Preheat a small frying pan and add oil.
  • Once oil is hot, add mustard seeds and cover with a splatter screen or lid.
  • When the mustard seeds stop popping, turn off the heat, remove the lid and add the curry leaves.
  • Saute the curry leaves for a few seconds until fragrant.
  • Add the mustard seeds and curry leaves with the oil into the sambar.
  • Cook in Saute mode till heated through.
  • Add in chopped cilantro and stir to combine.

Notes

  • Prep time does not include steps that are already accounted for in the ingredient list, e.g. rinsed dal, chopped onions, etc.
  • * If using tamarind concentrate, start with 1 teaspoon mixed with 1 teaspoon hot water and add more to taste. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1 serving | Calories: 104 kcal | Carbohydrates: 30 g | Protein: 4 g | Fat: 4 g | Saturated Fat: 2 g | Sodium: 31 mg | Fiber: 18 g | Sugar: 5 g
Course Main Dishes
Cuisine Indian
Main Ingredient vegetarian
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Thank you for visiting Paint the Kitchen Red. All photos and content are copyright protected. Please don’t use any content without prior written permission. If you’ve made this recipe and would like to share it with your friends, please link back to this recipe. Thank you!

I am not a certified nutritionist.  I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers.  If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons,  I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.

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Comments

  1. sumi says

    November 25, 2019 at 11:01 am

    5 stars
    awesom

    Reply
    • Paint the Kitchen Red says

      November 25, 2019 at 2:06 pm

      Thanks, Sumi!

      Reply
  2. Jia says

    July 06, 2019 at 8:01 am

    5 stars
    Delicious, easy, and easy to understand recipe. Thanks again.

    Reply
    • Paint the Kitchen Red says

      July 07, 2019 at 11:34 am

      Jia – I’m glad to hear you liked the recipe 🙂

      Reply
  3. Neetu says

    April 15, 2019 at 3:48 pm

    5 stars
    Loved it. Used my IP for the first time yesterday since I could easily follow IP steps with pictures. Thanks so much!!

    Reply
  4. Neetu says

    April 08, 2019 at 8:31 pm

    5 stars
    Thanks a lot Neena- your tips and pictures are super helpful! Yours is the first site to even mention how to use IP.. Much grateful 🙂

    Reply
    • Paint the Kitchen Red says

      April 08, 2019 at 9:13 pm

      That’s so great to hear, Neetu! Always happy to help out. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

      Reply
  5. Anju says

    April 06, 2019 at 8:57 am

    5 stars
    I had never made sambar with coconut so I wanted to try this and loved the flavor of the fried coconut. But I used potatoes, carrots and brinjal. Thanks for the detailed information.

    Reply
    • Paint the Kitchen Red says

      April 08, 2019 at 9:14 pm

      Thanks so much, Anju, for taking the time to comment and rate the recipe. Yes, I love the addition of coconut. It adds that extra oomph to the recipe!

      Reply
5 from 6 votes (1 rating without comment)

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Hi, I'm Neena Panicker, and welcome! I am the creator, photographer, and author of recipes and tips at Paint the Kitchen Red. I live in the glorious west in Salt Lake City, Utah with my family.

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