What is Sambar?

Sambar is a toor dal (split pigeon pea) stew cooked with tamarind, tomatoes, onions, drumstick (moringa) pods, and a ground spice mix called sambar podi that is either store-bought (acceptable) or made at home in a batch that lasts three months (respected). The tempering — mustard seeds cracked in hot oil with curry leaves, dried red chilli, and asafoetida — is added at the end and transforms everything. The hing (asafoetida) in particular has a smell that is pungent raw, sulfurous mid-cook, and somehow savory and irreplaceable in the finished dish.

Each South Indian region, and honestly each household, has a version of sambar they'd go to the mat defending. Andhra sambar is usually hotter and more tamarind-forward. Tamil sambar tends toward sweetness from shallots. Karnataka often has coconut in the podi. The vegetables vary by season and what's in the fridge. But the structure — toor dal, tamarind, tempering — stays constant, and the smell of sambar cooking is so specific and so tied to home that South Indians have reported feeling it as a physical sensation when they walk into a restaurant and catch it from across a room.