Sambar powder recipe made at home with step by step instructions. What is sambar powder?? its a core ingredient to be added in the sambar recipe. It’s a blend of spices like split pigeon pea, dry red chilies, curry leaves, pepper, cumin and some more ingredients.

Sambar recipe is a lentil stew with veggies eaten with steamed rice or dosa and appams. This is a popular dish of South India which are served with idlis, appams, dosa, rice, puttu etc. You get readymade sambar powder but the home-made altogether has a different flavor, aroma, taste and no chemicals or preservatives.
The recipe credit goes to my mom she is the master mind behind this. Our family is a combination of two region hence different recipes and food. Apart from sea-food we were also bought up with eating idlis, chutney, sambar, dosa, appams, uttappam etc. Every weekedn mom used to make sambar, rasam, stews etc. Mom is at my place and she made this sambar powder and I was just click…. click 🙂 🙂
Basic ingredient’s are required to make this sambar powder and could be easily found in your kitchen. Although I have used fresh curry leaves if that’s not available you could use dry curry leaves too.
Storage: You could store them into an air-tight container in your kitchen or fridge. It should last for 3-4 months. Use them before it looses it’s potency and flavor.
Use sambar powder in sambar stew, dals, curries etc. I also add them sometimes in egg curries made in south indian style. So you could add them as per your taste and preference.
Let’s make sambar powder stepwise:
1. Firstly keep all the ingredients ready.
2. You could break the head of red chilies before roasting or after roasting the choice is your’s.
3. Remove all the curry leaves from the stem and discard the stem. If they have moisture then wipe them with paper napkins.
4. Heat a heavy bottomed pan and add the bengal gram.
5. Also add the urad dal.
6. Roast them on low heat until fragrant and aromatic.
7. Remove them and place aside.
8. Now add fenugreek seed.
9. Immediately add coriander seed.
10. Also add cumin seed and peppercorn.
11. Roast them on low heat until fragrant and aromatic. Keep an eye and please don’t burn them.
12. Now remove them and place aside.
13. In the same pan add asofoetida and roast on low heat for a minute.
14. Remove asofoetida and place aside.
15. Now roast the dry red chilies for 2 mins or until they change their color. But please don’t burn them.
16. Remove the red chilies and place aside. Now dry roast curry leaves until they are slightly charred or change color. But don’t burn them. remove and place aside.
17. Now combine all the ingredients into your dry grinder. Dry grind until they are formed into fine powder. Your sambar powder is ready. Allow to cool and then store into an airtight container or bottles.
Check some more home-made spice powder like garam masala powder, curry leaf powder, fennel seed powder, east indian bottle masala, bhuna masala, milk masala and tea masala
Sambar powder recipe below:
- ½ cup bengal gram (chana dal)
- ⅓rd cup split urad dal (urad dal)
- 1.5 tsp fenugreek seed (methi dana)
- 2 tbsp peppercorn (kalimirch)
- ⅓rd cup + 2 tbsp coriander seed (dhaniya)
- 2.5 tbsp cumin seed
- 1 tbsp asofoetida (hing)
- 50 gms dry red bedgi or kashmiri chilies
- 2.5 cup fresh or dry curry leaves (kadi pata)
- Firstly keep all the ingredients ready.
- You could break the head of red chilies before roasting or after roasting the choice is your's
- Remove all the curry leaves from the stem and discard the stem. If they have moisture then wipe them with paper napkins.
- Heat a heavy bottomed pan and add the bengal gram.
- Also add the urad dal.
- Roast them on low heat until fragrant and aromatic.
- Remove them and place aside.
- Now add fenugreek seed.
- Immediately add coriander seed.
- Also add cumin seed and peppercorn.
- Roast them on low heat until fragrant and aromatic. Keep an eye and please don't burn them.
- Now remove them and place aside.
- In the same pan add asofoetida and roast on low heat for a minute.
- Remove asofoetida and place aside.
- Now roast the dry red chilies for 2 mins or until they change their color. But don't burn them.
- Remove the red chilies and place aside. Now dry roast curry leaves until they are slightly charred or change color. But don't burn them. remove and place aside.
- Now combine all the ingredients into your dry grinder. Dry grind until they are formed into fine powder. Your sambar powder is ready. Allow to cool and then store into an airtight container or bottles.
2. All the ingredients have to be roasted on low heat and not burnt or charred. So do keep an eye while roasting them preferably dry roast them on a heavy bottomed saucepan.
3.I have used kashmiri chilies but you could us bedgi chilies.
Lakshmi says
Maria betu, Plz make correction, u wrote Pigeon Pea for Urad dal, Pigeon pea is toor/tuvar dal in Hindi.
Great job with step by step pics & info👌🤩 it helps whn one is new to cooking. Keep up the good work. God bless u.👍
maria says
Hi Lakshmi,
Thanks for highlighting the mistake, have rectified. Also big thankyou for your kind words 🙂
Tony says
This looks awesome! I love Indian cuisine, but never thought I could pull it off at home—all these spices are intimidating. Thanks for breaking this down, I will definitely try to make the various powders on your site. Great recipes, lots of yummy stuff on your blog!
maria says
Tony your site is great loved the image styling 🙂 thankyou for your kind words. Do try surely and do share your views …. 🙂