Simple, practical, and full of everyday flavour, ash gourd sambar recipe | kumblakai koddel or sambar recipe is a vegetarian south indian sambar made with ash gourd / winter melon / budhu kumbalakai / pumpkin, tamarind extract, and turmeric powder / haldi in about 25 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.
Recipe Snapshot
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 15 minutes
- Total time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 3 Servings
- Category: sambar
- Cuisine: south indian
Ingredients
- ½ kg ash gourd / winter melon / budhu kumbalakai / pumpkin
- 1 cup tamarind extract
- ½ tsp turmeric powder / haldi
- 1 tsp jaggery / gud / bella
- salt to taste
- few curry leaves
- 1 cup toor dal (cooked)
- 3 tsp sambar powder
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves (finely chopped)
for tempering:
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds / rai
- pinch of hing / asafoetida
- few curry leaves
Method
- firstly, peel the skin of kumblakai and cut them into pieces. the skin can be used to prepare kumblakai sippe chutney.
- now boil them with a cup of tamarind extract.
- also add in ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp jaggery, salt to taste and few curry leaves.
- cover and boil for 10 minutes or till ash gourd cooks well.
- now add in 1 cup cooked toor dal.
- adjust consistency and boil for 2 minutes.
- now add 3 tsp sambar powder. mix and simmer for a minute. do not over boil it.
- meanwhile prepare the tempering by heating oil.
- further add 1 tsp mustard seeds, pinch of hing and few curry leaves.
- allow the tempering to splutter and pour over sambar.
- also add in coriander leaves and mix well.
- finally, serve ash gourd sambar along with hot steamed rice.
Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note
Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.
