Slow Cooker Sambar

Recipe by Cook's Hideout

Update: My Computer is fixed.. I've updated the post with the pics. I wanted to use my slow cooker that’s been collecting dust for quite sometime now. So I decided to make sambar in it and it came out pretty good, can’t complain for the minimum amount of work I had to put in. Serve with rice, idli, dosa, roti, practically anything can be eaten with sambar. With the leftovers I made Sambar Semya which is nothing but vermicelli mixed with sambar. Here’s how I made it:

Ingredients

• 1 cup Toor dal
• 15 oz. can black beans
• 1 onion (– large, thinly sliced)
• 1 pepper (Green – small, thinly sliced)
• 1 yellow Squash (– medium, thinly sliced)
• 2 - 3 3 tbsps Tomatoes Tamarind (– medium, chopped (I used 1 small tomato chopped and 1/3 cup crushed tomato) paste)
• 2 - 3 tbsps (Sambar Powder – homemade or store-bought (I used Ambika brand that I brought from India))
• 1 tsp chili powder (Red)
• to taste Salt
• 1 tsp Urad dal
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 2 chilies (Dry Red)
• 15 oz. can black beans (Hing)

Method

1. I combined dal and veggies along with 5-6 cups water, ½ tsp turmeric, sambar powder, chili powder and salt in the slow cooker. Cooked on Low for about 6 hours (or on High for 4hrs).
2. So by the time we came home, dal & veggies were done, then I added tamarind extract and adjusted the seasonings. Cooked for another 30 minutes on High.
3. When there was about 10 minutes left for cooking, I made the tadka in 2tbsp oil, added it to slow cooker and let it cook.

View the recipe instructions at Cook's Hideout