
Sambar Sadam or Sambar rice is Rice cooked in lentil gravy with a special sambar masala powder. It is a quick, easy one pot meal that is very filling and nutritious. It’s a perfect Instatpot recipe for a lazy kind of day. You get the required protein from dal, nutrients from the vegetable, and the carbs from the rice in one plate. I usually prepare it in the cooker directly and it comes out nice and mushy. This dish is usually paired with porial , potato chips or fried papadam.
Now with the addition of Instatpot and Instantpot mini, I tend to use it more for the one pot means. It makes cooking much easy as I can set it and forget until I am ready to eat. I remember when amma was busy with say a festival or something else this would our meal for the day. Even-though the rice itself used to taste awesome, as kids, potato chips or fried papadam was the highlight for us.
If you are looking for a healthier option, checkout Little Millet Sambar Rice. This version of sambar rice, where little millet is cooked in lentil gravy, has a different flavor profile.

Sambar Rice | Sambar Sadam
Ingredients
- Tamarind – 2 tsp or lemon sized ball soaked and squeezed ( adjust according to taste
- Rice – 1 cup
- Toor dal – 1/2 cup
- Vegetables cut into big cubes – 1 cup any veggi of your choice: carrot, beans, onion, peas, capsicum
- Sambar powder – 2 tbs
- Salt to taste
- Turmeric powder – a pinch
- 4-5 cups water
For seasoning:
- Mustered seeds – 1tsp
- Oil – 1 tsp
- Curry leaves – few
- Methi powder – 1/4 tsp
- Hing – 1/4 tsp
Instructions
- In a pressure cooker or your Instatpot add a little oil and add the turmeric powder and the vegetables. Fry all the vegetable for couple of minutes.
- Add in the sambar powder and the salt and give it a good mix.
- Meanwhile wash and the rice and toor dal and add it to the vegetables. Mix all of it together in a low flame.
- Now add the tamarind paste/ water to the mixture. At this point add the water to the mixture and close the lid and pressure cook it fro 2 to 3 whistles.
- If you are cooking in instant pot, turn it to 'Rice' mode and let it natural release once its done
- I like to add more water than usual ( 1 cup rice :3 or 4 cusp water) to get the mushy consistency.
Notes

If you to try this one pot nutritious meal, give me a shout out and share pictures with the hashtag #amomscookbook. Drop your comment and rate the recipe. Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for more such recipes and food photography.
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