 | |
| Type | Spicedcurrystew |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | India |
| Region or state | Maharashtra |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | Tamarindbroth,lentils,vegetables |
Sāmbār, orsambhar, is alentil-based vegetable spicedcurry orstew, cooked withpigeon peas andtamarindbroth. It originates inSouth Indian cuisine and is also eaten in other parts of India.
The recorded history of sambar is vague.[1]
Verse 2.98 ofAmuktamalyada (c. 1517), aTelugu poem by theVijayanagara kingKrishnadevaraya, mentions the word "sambarampuchintapandu". According to a 2010 translation by Srinivas Sistla ofAndhra University, the poem mentions "Sambar ingredients packed in separate packs, jaggery, tamarind paste" while describing the food thatPeriyalvar's wife packs atSrivilliputhur in present-dayTamil Nadu. Bahujanapalli Sitaramacharyulu's dictionarySabdaratnakaramu (1885) andVedam Venkataraya Sastry's commentary (1927) on the poem also interpret the word in the same way. Therefore, Sistla theorizes that sambar must have been an integral part of theTamil cuisine by the 16th century.[2]
According to food historianK. T. Achaya (1994), the earliest extant reference to sambar, as "huli", can be dated to the 17th century in present-dayKarnataka.[3][4]Kanthirava Narasaraja Vijaya, a 1648 text by the Kannada scholar Govinda Vaidya, mentions huli (puli) (literally "sourness"), a curry similar to the modern sambar, made with vegetables andtoor dal.[1]
According to a legend, sambar was first made in theThanjavur Maratha kingdom during the reign ofShahuji I (r. 1684–1712).[1] The legend states that during a visit bySambhaji, a king or his royal chef substitutedkokum with tamarind in the traditionalamti (lentil soup), and added some vegetables to it: the resulting curry was namedsambar orsambhar afterSambhaji.[5][6] Sourish Bhattacharyya, inThe Bloomsbury Handbook of Indian Cuisine (2023), notes that the fathers ofShahuji I and Sambhaji were half-brothers and not on good terms, which reduces the credibility of this legend. However, Bhattacharyya adds that it is possible that Shahuji named the dish after Sambhaji as part of his attempts to establish cordial relations between the two families.[1]
In southern states of India, namelyKarnataka,Andhra Pradesh,Telangana,Kerala andTamil Nadu, sambar is made using different vegetables along with lentils or coconut. Each region has its own version of making sambar; even though the same vegetables are used, the condiments and ingredients, and the methods, differ.[7] InTulu-speaking areas of coastal Karnataka, coconut is predominantly used to preparekoddel (sambar). Grated coconut is ground with spices to form a paste which is added to boiled vegetables.[8] InKannada-speaking areas it is calledsaaru.[9][10]
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