Warm, richly spiced, and built for a satisfying meal, hotel sambar recipe | sambar dal recipe | saravana bhavan sambar is a vegetarian south indian sambar made with oil, coriander seeds, and chana dal 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: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4 Servings
  • Category: sambar
  • Cuisine: south indian

Ingredients

for sambar powder:

  • 2 tsp oil
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tbsp chana dal
  • ½ tsp cumin / jeera
  • ¼ tsp methi / fenugreek seeds
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • 4 dried kashmiri red chilli
  • few curry leaves
  • 2 tbsp coconut (grated)

for hotel sambar:

  • 1 cup tamarind extract
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp jaggery
  • 2 green chilli (slit)
  • few curry leaves
  • ½ onion (petals)
  • 5 beans (chopped)
  • 1 carrot (chopped)
  • 2 drumsticks (chopped)
  • 1 tomato (chopped)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup water
  • 1½ cup toor dal (cooked)
  • 2 tbsp coriander (finely chopped)

for tempering:

  • 2 tsp oil
  • 1 tsp mustard / rai
  • 1 dried kashmiri red chilli
  • few curry leaves

Method

  1. in a kadai take 1 cup tamarind extract, ½ tsp turmeric, 1 tsp jaggery, 2 green chilli and few curry leaves.
  2. also, add vegetables and 1 tsp salt.
  3. cover and boil for 10 minutes.
  4. further, add 1 cup water and 1½ cup toor dal.
  5. boil the mixture well.
  6. now add 3 tbsp of prepared sambar powder and mix well.
  7. boil for 2 minutes or till flavours of sambar powder is absorbed completely.
  8. pour the tempering over sambar.
  9. also, add 2 tbsp coriander leaves and mix well.
  10. finally, hotel sambar is ready to serve 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.