Blogging Marathon#64: Week 4/ Day 3
Theme: Mega BM Bookmarked RecipesĀ
Dish: Leeks Sambar from Vidhya
For the final day of this month’s marathon, I have an interesting sambar made with Leeks from Vidhya’s blog. I bookmarked it the minute I saw it on her blog and made it once I got my hands on some leeks.

Leeks belong to the ‘Allium’ family along with onions and garlic. They have a mild onion-like taste and are crunchy when eaten raw. But they get soft and mild when cooked. I buy leeks quite often and make pasta sauces or dry sautes with them. Vidhya’s leek sambar sounded very interesting and delicious.
Sambar turned out delicious. Vidhya’s method of making sambar was a little different from my mom’s method. I made some homemade sambar powder (I will share the recipe soon) and it gave the dish a nice flavor. We had it with steamed rice for lunch and then with idlis the next day.
Recipe from Vidhya’s Home Cooking:

Servings | Prep Time |
4 serving | 10 minutes |
Cook Time |
30 minutes |
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Leeks Sambar is a delicious and comforting dish made with leeks, lentils and sambar powder. It is great to serve as a side dish to any South Indian meal.
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- 1 leek Medium , thinly sliced
- ½ cup toor dal
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tbsps coconut Fresh , grated
- To taste salt
- 2 tbsps cilantro , finely chopped
- 1 tsp Mustard seeds
- 1 tsp Methi seeds
- ¼ tsp asafoetida / Hing
- 6 ~ 8 curry leaves
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste
- 1 ~ 2 tsps jaggery , grated (optional)
- Cook toor dal until completely tender and mushy.
- In a heavy bottom saucepan, heat oil; add the mustard seeds, methi seeds and hing. Once the seeds start to splutter, add the curry leaves and chopped leeks. Cook for about 3~4 minutes.
- Add the grated coconut, mix well and cook for a minute.
- Now add the tamarind paste, salt and let it simmer for about 3~4 minutes.
- In the mean time, whisk sambar powder in ½cup water and add to the pan. Simmer for 2~3 minutes.
- Stir in the cooked toor dal along with 1~2 cups of water depending on the desired consistency. Bring to a boil and adjust the seasoning. Add a tiny bit of jaggery if desired. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with steamed rice.
That’s a new version of sambar right with leeks being added..I knew much later that even spring onions are added in sambar..good change..
Sambar looks very good. I like such recipes where we can serve left overs the next day with another dish. This sambar must have tasted great with both rice and idli.
Leeks sambar looks delicious
That is a nice sambar recipe. We hardly get leeks here, but will try this when I can get my hands on it..
Interesting…I guess we can just about use any veggie or green in the sambar, right?
Addition of leeks in sambar is definitely an interesting one, well done.
Lovely variation to the regular sambar.
Very interesting innovative sambar.. It looks very delicious.. Will try soon.
Never thought of leek and sambhar together…looks like a nice option to try!
Glad you liked it. š š yummm
Interesting choice of leeks in there!