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sambar

sambar

1 6.5
A spicy South Indian stew made with lentils and vegetables that is often served with rice or dosa
  • noun
  • /ˈsɑːmbɑːr/
  • Indian
translation icon : sambar
  • sambar, a spicy lentil

Examples

  • Every piece of drumstick in the sambar was thoroughly chewed down to a thatch of dry bristles.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • How can a guy who has been eating dosa and sambar for 25 years suddenly guzzle kimchi and proclaim Korean the food of the gods?

    Blog text (7)
  • Meera stirred the watery, sedimented sambar and watched a muddy cloud billow to the top.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • I love enjoying a bowl of sambar with rice for dinner, as it's packed with flavors from lentils and spices.

  • For breakfast, many people in South India eat dosas dipped in sambar, which adds a deliciously spicy kick.

  • On a chilly evening, nothing warms me up like a hot serving of sambar paired with crispy vadas.

How Spicy

vindaloo
2 4.8
sambar
  • Indian
1 6.5
curry
117 1.4
dal
  • UK
1 3.4

Surface Forms

sambar singular
sambars plural

Etymology

Sambar comes from South Indian languages such as Tamil and Kannada, where a similar word like sambaaram means a spicy lentil and vegetable 'stew'. So in English sambar now means that hot, spicy dish often served with rice or dosa.