Sambar Is Not An Original South Indian Dish? | Bhavesh Facts

The Story of Sambar!

The Sambar is not a South Indian dish!

No, this is not just a sentence to grab your attention but a theory most culinary historians and experts back with suitable evidence. The popular South Indian dish that you eat nowadays in your college canteens, stalls near railway stations, or temples was actually invented by the Marathas.

Well, many of you might be aware of this fact, but I know that there will be many people who have no idea about the “Sambar’s” invention. This one is for you. I first heard this story of Sambar from Chef Kunal Kapoor, the renowned celebrity chef from India. Now I will have to take you on a little historical journey to tell you more about this popular dish’s invention.

So let's go. The History! For the first time, Sambar was actually prepared in the Thanjavur kitchen of the Marathi King known as “Shahaji Bhonsale”, son of Ekoji, and founder of the Marathi rule of Thanjavur.

On one particular occasion, Shahaji who used to enjoy cooking a bit was trying to prepare Amti the popular Maharashtrian dish, which included Kokum as it’s the main ingredient. But, during that moment, Kokum was out of supply. So, in replacement of Kokum, Shahaji himself decided to experiment by replacing Kokum with Tamarind.

In this scenario, the dish known as Amti was prepared using vegetables, lentils, and Tamarind. It was then first served to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj son “Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj” who had come to Tamil Nadu, Thanjavur to meet his relative “Shahaji Maharaj”.

The dish was loved by Sambhaji and thus it became popular that way. The experimentation turned out to be good and everybody liked it so much, that the dish was named as “Sambar” after Sambhaji’s Maharaj name.

Who were the Thanjavur Marathas? For centuries Thanjavur was the power center of the Cholas, one of the mightiest Indian kingdoms whose territories extended across the Bay of Bengal as far as Indonesia. Even though there are many varieties of Sambar.

Today, the actual fact of its invention will always remain unchanged. Yes, you’ll notice that the taste of Tamilian Sambar is somewhat different as compared to other places like Kerala Sambar or Sambar from Hyderabad. But, one thing is for sure, that Sambar will always be the best dish. So, now that you know the story of Sambar, share it with your friends too.

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