Gobi sambar | Cauliflower lentils South Indian stew

Am I on cauliflower spree or what? The last recipe I posted was Cauliflower (gobi) ka keema and now its Cauliflower sambhar! Well, what can I say? I just love this flower so much.

I also love Sambars and make them almost every week. And why not? They are a great way to have lentils and vegetables altogether in one bowl, together with wonderful taste.

The best part is the variety that you can keep up with this dish. Throwing in any vegetables that you like as per the proportion and taste YOU like. Its really awesome!

Some other dishes where I have combined vegetables with lentils- Chana dal shaljam (turnip with chana dal) | Lauki chane ki dal (bottle guard with chana dal) | Palak chana dal (spinach with chana dal) | Chana dal Paneer

Mostly for Sambar, I like to mix whatever vegetables I have in hand but at times I go specific and prepare a version of Sambar with just one veggie like in these Beetroot Sambhar and Shallot (pearl onion) sambar which are great. One such variation is this cauliflower Sambhar which is really simple to make and goes incredibly well with lemon rice or soft sponge dosa.

I prefer to use small pink onions (or shallots) to make sambhar since they bring in really aromatic flavours in. And some ginger and grated coconut as well. I like the combination and taste of it altogether.

There must be hundreds of recipes to create a perfect South Indian Sambhar and this is one of mine. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Check out some South Indian recipes here-> Chana dal Dosa | Curd rice with cucumber | Onion uttapam

This is a Vegan + Gluten free + Low calorie dish

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Gobi sambar | South Indian cauliflower lentil stew

Delicious and easy to make, this Cauliflower sambar tastes awesome with rice or roti equally.

Course curry, Main Course

Cuisine South Indian

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Author Nupur @ The Veggie Indian

Ingredients

• ½ cup Toor dal- preferably soaked for about 30 minutes
• cup A small cauliflower floret- when chopped fills about 1
• tsp A of tamarind paste
• 1 onion finely chopped
• piece A small of ginger grated
• 2 tsp freshly grated coconut or dessicated if not fresh
• leaves A handful of curry
• A generous pinch of heeng asafoetida

Spices

• 1 tbsp Sambar powder
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp salt Or as per taste
• ¼ tsp fenugreek seeds methi dana
• 1 tbsp Oil- I used coconut oil
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1-2 dried red chilies
• 1 tbsp oil

Instructions

1. Preparation
3. Soak Toor dal in hot water for 20 minutes and pressure cook with 1 ½ cups of water for 3-4 whistles. Then turn off the gas and open when the pressure eases off. Mash it with the back of a ladle and keep aside.
5. In the meanwhile, heat oil in a pan. Add in the mustard seeds and when they splutter, add grated ginger, heeng, curry leaves, red chili and fenugreek seeds. Fry for a minute at low gas
7. Then add chopped onions and cook for about 5-7 minutes till they turn light pink in colour. Add in chopped cauliflower now along with salt, turmeric and sambhar powder. Mix and cook covered for about 15-20 minutes, stirring in between. Add a few drops of water if it gets too dry
9. Once the cauliflower bits are almost cooked (not completely cooked or raw), add 1 cup of water, coconut and tamarind paste. ** Read notes- if you are using tamarind pulp, then add the whole 1 ½ cups of water.
11. Let it boil until the raw smell of the tamarind and the sambar powder goes away. It would take around 8-10 minutes. Then add the cooked dal and mix.
13. Check the seasoning and consistency and add more water or salt if required. Simmer for a 8-10 minutes until the sambar thickens a bit.
15. Garnish with cilantro (coriander leaves) if required and serve hot with rice or dosa.

Recipe Notes

If using fresh tamarind: Use a small scoop sized one. Soak it in hot water for some time, then extract about 1 ½ cups of tamarind juice and discard the pulp.

More South Indian curries that are protein rich:

Kerala style egg roast curry

Chettinad Pakora curry – Kuzhambu 

Chana dal vada curry