I believe that Sambar is usually more of a breakfast food but, what can I say, I'm a rule-breaker! I needed something to add to the dinner spread to round things out and this looked like a good bet. It's full of delicious veggies and pigeon peas. I used a mix of carrot, tomato, onion, okra, and green beans, but you could use just about any veggies you wanted depending on what's available.

Sambar

Slightly adapted from Vegetarian Indian Cooking with Your Instant Pot by Manali Singh

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. split pigeon peas (toor dal)
• 2 1/2 c. water, divided
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric, divided
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 1 c. diced tomato (fresh or canned)
• 1 carrot, cut into coins
• 1 onion, diced
• 5 okras, cut into 2cm pieces
• 1 c. green beans, cut into 2cm pieces
• 1 tsp. jaggery
• 4 tsp. Sambhar Masala
• 1 tsp. tamarind concentrate
• 1 Tbsp. mustard oil
• 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp. asafetida
• 15 curry leaves
• 1 fresh green Thai chile, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Place pigeon peas in InstantPot along with 1 c. of the water, 1/4 tsp. of the turmeric, and 1/2 tsp. of the salt.
2. Close the lid and set to pressure cook on high for 8 minutes.
3. Allow a 15 minute natural release and then remove the lid and add the tomato, carrot, onion, okra, beans, jaggery, sambhar masala, tamarind, remaining 1/4 tsp. of salt, and remaining 1/4 tsp. of turmeric.
4. Close the lid and set to pressure cook on high for 5 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, heat oil over medium-high heat.
6. Add mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they've stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
7. Stir asafetida, curry leaves, and chile and remove from heat.
8. Once the vegetables have finished cooking, do a quick release and stir in the tadka (oil-curry leaf mixture).
9. Garnish with cilantro and serve with idli or dosas for breakfast!