Vengaya Sambar, also known as Archavittu Sambar, is a classic onion sambar from Palakkad cuisine.This dish is made with small onions (shallots), toor dal, and a freshly ground coconut spice mix. Serve it with steaming rice and sautéed Indian potato curry for an authentic Tamil Brahmin meal.
Vengaya Sambar blends the rich flavors of Tamil and Kerala cooking. It pairs beautifully with rice or tiffin dishes like idli, dosa, ven pongal, onion uttapam and adai. Try this authentic recipe for a wholesome and comforting meal!
It’s a Sunday tradition at my inlaws to serve this chinna vengayam sambar with potato fry, making it a firm family favorite. The recipe’s unique ground spice mix, or “archavittu” in Tamil, gives this sambar its distinct taste, setting it apart from other sambars in Tamil cuisine. You can make instant sambar with homemade sambar powder.
Top Tips:
- Use freshly grated coconut or frozen grated coconut to best flavour. I don't recommend desiccated coconut. It change the flavours and is not recommendable.
- Use small onions (shallots) for a slightly sweet flavor.
- Adjust spice levels by adding more dried red chillies.
- Grind the spices fresh for the best aroma and taste.
- Thick consistency is key for this sambar—don’t let it become too watery.
- Serve it with rice, potato fry, or South Indian tiffin items like dosa or idli.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this Onion Sambar with Tiffin dishes such as Ven Pongal, Oats Idli, Dosa and more.
More Palakkad cuisine recipes
Ingredients
- ½ Kg Small Onions peeled Chinna Vengayam
- 1 Cup Tur dal
- Small Lemon sized Tamarind
- 4 teaspoon Coriander leaves
- 1 teaspoon Jaggery
- 2 tablespoon Sunflower Oil
- ¾ teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- ¾ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
To grind :
- 4 teaspoon grated Coconut
- 1 teaspoon Coriander seeds
- ¼ teaspoon Fenugreek seeds Methi Seeds
- 2-3 Dried Red Chilli
- ½ teaspoon Chana dal { Bengal Gram}
Instructions
- Dry roast all the ingredients other than grated coconut, in Table 2 in 2 teaspoon of oil. Roast until they slightly begin to change color and a lovely aroma of roasted spices begins to come .Let it cool down. Grind along with coconut, using a little water (4- 6 tsp) and obtain a fine, thick paste.
- Soak tamarind in ½ cup of warm water for 10 min. Squeeze out all the juice of the tamarind & keep it aside. Pressure cook the Tur Dal and set it aside once its
- cooked.
- Peel the onions, wash them and set it aside. If the onions are slightly large chop them into two halves.
- In a kadai, fry the onions in 2-3 teaspoon of oil to eliminate the raw smell. To this , add tamarind water , turmeric powder & salt to taste.
- Allow this mix to boil for some time. Sprinkle some jaggery and about 1 cup of water if quantity has reduced to half.Allow this mix to boil further. At this stage add cooked tur dal and the coconut- spices paste. Let this mixture boil for a little more time until sambar is well mixed with all the new additional ingredients.
- Turn of the gas and prepare for seasoning in another small pan. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil and add mustard seeds and methi seeds. Once the mustard begins to splutter, quickly pour it onto the prepared sambar.
- Garnish the Sambar with chopped coriander leaves.
- Onion Sambar is ready to be served with Rice & Aloo Podimas (A Potato delicacy). An Ideal Sunday Lunch.
Notes
altogether alter the flavour and is not recommendable.
You could use large onions, but the small onions ( shallots) renders a bit of sweet flavour .
Dried Chilli could be increased if you like it spicier. If you do not enjoy your sambar with a ting of
sweetness, reduce the jaggery further.
Sandhya Nadkarni says
Love this authentic recipe Sandhya!
Richa says
I can so relate to this! I'm from up north and my husband is Mangalorean. Sunday brunches at home used be poori-aloo ki sabji, samosas and jalebis while at Mangalore, we do fish curry and appams. I loooove both these just as much. And these days we try to do a mix of both. I love the fact that we are a part of both these cultures 🙂
divya says
looks soooo mouthwatering n delicious...
Shibi Thomas says
I must try this sambar recipe. Sounds really delicious!!
CookWith Manali says
Thank you Sandhya for sharing your family recipe with us. I will definitely give it a try, sambhar looks delicious!
Anu-My Ginger Garlic Kitchen says
Wow! This is astoundingly delicious!
Meri Rasoi says
Delicious Sambaar...and as always lovely clicks!!
marudhus kitchen says
wow wonderful clicks and first time visit to ur blog happy that I found a wonderful blog