Quick and easy recipe of sambar rice with quinoa made in a stove-top pressure cooker. A perfect recipe for that busy weekday meals!

My love for quinoa and one-pot recipes continues. And here I am today with quinoa sambar sadham or quinoa sambar rice. Last April, I posted 26 different biryanis and pulav all made either in Instant Pot or pressure cooker, and this year I am keeping it simple with quinoa pongal, quinoa rasam rice, etc. :-)

You can call this as Tamil Nadu style sambar sadham or Vidhya’s style sambar sadham but not bisibelebath. BBB is entirely different from this one. But I do have a “pseudo” pressure cooker version of BBB on my blog.

Sambar masala paste-

I did not use freshly ground spices for this sambar sadham as I did in kadamba sambar sadham. I went with homemade sambar powder, but I ground it along with coconut and tomato.

Folks this ground masala paste make a considerable difference and elevates the flavor of the sambar so much.

I learned this idea from my aunt, and I have incorporated it on my drumstick sambar recipe, and also, you can find the Instant Pot version of it on my Youtube.

If you notice, I would have used dried red chilies also while preparing the paste, but for this recipe, I skipped it. Wondering why, because I ran out of dried red chilies.

With shelter in place, it’s challenging to source the everyday ingredients. So I skipped red chilies and increased the amount of sambar powder. Check the recipe notes for the variation.

As many of you requested me to post stove-top pressure cooker recipes, I made this sambar sadham in the pressure cooker. You can find the Instant Pot instructions as well in the procedure.

This recipe is straightforward, but it’s not an exact one-pot recipe as I did the tempering separately. All you have to do is prepare the sambar masala, dump everything into the pressure cooker, let the pressure cooker do its magic, and add the tempering. Quite an easy recipe, right?

Sambar sadham without onion-

As you can see from the video, I used frozen peas, corn, and even broccoli along with chow-chow, radish, and butternut squash.

You can use veggies that you have in hand. Okra or ladies’ finger might not work here, as it makes the entire sambar rice slimy. Also, I did not add any onion. But you can include one onion or few shallots.

Now without any delay, here is the pressure cooker sambar sadham recipe with video. If you haven’t subscribed to my YT channel, please do subscribe.

Prepare the masala paste-

In a mixer jar, add the grated coconut, ½ tomato chopped, and the sambar powder. Add required water (¼ to ⅓ cup) and grind it into a smooth paste.
Set the masala paste aside and rinse the mixer jar with 1 cup of water and reserve it.

Dump the other ingredients into the pressure cooker-

PS – You don’t need to turn on your stove.

Now into a pressure cooker, add the 4 cups of chopped vegetables, ½ tomato, the ground masala paste, 1 cup water that you used to rinse the mixer jar, salt, and tamarind paste.
Now add the rinsed quinoa and toor dal as well.
Next, add the remaining 3 cups of water and mix thoroughly.

If using Instant Pot, dump everything into it and mix thoroughly.

Pressure Cook the sambar rice-

Now turn the heat on and pressure cook the quinoa sambar rice for three whistles. Allow the pressure to settle naturally.
If using Instant Pot, close the Instant Pot. Ensure the sealing ring is in place, and the vent should be in the sealing position. Pressure cook this for 12 minutes at high-pressure mode and let the pressure release naturally. You can go up to 15 minutes but not more than that.
After the pressure is all gone, mix them all. Add the curry leaves and cilantro and mix again.

Preparing the Tempering-

In a separate tempering pan, heat 2 tsps of oil over medium heat.
When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. Add the asafoetida if using. Let the mustard seeds splutter and fenugreek turn light golden brown. Turn off the heat and add it to the sambar rice.
Mix and serve hot with your favorite curry or kootu.

Recipe Notes-

I kept this as a no onion recipe. But you can add one medium-sized onion or 5 to 6 chopped shallots. I have tried this sambar rice with and without sauteing the onions. You can dump the onions along with the vegetables, or you can saute them first. In that case, prepare the tempering in the pressure cooker or Instant Pot and saute the onions. Then turn off the heat and add all the other ingredients and proceed as mentioned in the steps.
Sambar Masala Paste – You can add one or two dried red chilies while grinding the sambar masala paste and reduce the sambar powder. If you add byadagi variety or Kashmiri variety, it gives a beautiful color to the sambar rice.
As always, adjust the salt, sambar powder, and tamarind paste according to your taste preference.
You can prepare this sambar rice, with rice, bulgur wheat, or any millet variety instead of quinoa.

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Pressure Cooker Sambar Rice | Quinoa Sambar Sadham