Cheap & Lazy Sambar

This is the best way to use up whatever vegetables are taking up space in my home.  Going forward, when I have any sort of vegetable in my fridge or on the counter that looks like it might spoil before I can use it, I think I'll try chopping it up and throwing it in the freezer for a later batch of sambar, much like I do with overripe bananas for kale-berry smoothies.  I haven't thrown a banana away in years and I use them ALL, so if I can do the same with vegetables, that would be great [edited 4/27/2020:  I've been doing this for awhile now, freezing leftover chopped veg for sambar, and it's great -- highly recommend].

I never wrote down the sambar ingredients I used before, so I snapped a picture of the ingredients once I had them in the pot so I wouldn't forget later.  This recipe is so quick and easy and healthy, but I still love the taste and how filling it is, especially now that the cold months are coming.

Ingredients

1) 1 cup red lentils, rinsed (I like red lentils for this because lots of dals require longer cooking and then smashing up whereas red lentils just explode into a mushy stew texture in ten minutes)

2) 1-2 medium potatoes, scrubbed and diced (or 5-6 baby potatoes, quartered)

3) 1 jalapeno, seeded and split

4) 2 tomatoes, diced

5) 1-2 carrots, diced

6) 1-2 shallots OR 1/2 medium onion, diced

7) Any other vegetables you want to use up.  I used half a diced green bell pepper in the picture.  My next batch will include whatever color bell pepper I have on hand as well as half a cup of cut green beans.  If I have to buy celery for something else this week, I'll include some chopped celery too.

8) 1/2 tbs sambar powder (I use Badshah brand Madras Sambar Masala), for a moderate level of heat

9) 1/2 - 1 tsp turmeric powder

10) salt, to taste

11) Enough water (or broth) to cover all ingredients plus a couple inches (keep in mind the lentils will absorb a lot of it).  Last time I used up a few cups of homemade vegetable broth with the water.  I just found a carton of broth in my fridge I forget I had opened, so I'll use that up this time just to get rid of it.

12) 2 tbs tamarind paste (This is important.  Sameer used to use a bit of sugar when making this, but I think the tamarind paste adds a richer depth of flavor, so I keep a jar of Swad brand tamarind concentrate in the fridge just for this.)


Directions

1) Put ingredients 1-9 in a large pot and cover with the water or broth.

2) Boil for 10 minutes.  (This should be enough time to cook the potatoes and the red lentils, which are the only two ingredients you really have to check doneness on.  If they don't seem done, or if you just have more cooking to do, turn heat to low, cover, and simmer up to an hour.)

3) Stir in tamarind paste and salt to taste.  Serve hot with lazy coconut chutney, cilantro, idli, mendu vada, whatever you like.  If you don't have idli or vada, try pouring your sambar over half a cup of cooked brown basmati rice for a filling, healthy winter lunch.

[Edited 4/20/2021:  I'm making this today and thought I should update my notes.  I always make the broth in the link now in place of the water.  It makes an enormous difference in the flavor.  And I just use the whole batch of broth in the sambar rather than eyeballing or measuring the liquid.  Works well.]