Etymology: sambar, the dish?

[Ashok Aklujkar]

A few hours ago at dinner I expressed the guess that the word
sambar/saambaar is probably related to the Sanskrit word sa.mbhaara
'provisions, requisites, things required for any action or project,
assemblage' (Apte's dictionary, expanded by Gode etc.,  p. 1650; I would
expect other dictionaries too to contain the word). I just happened to read
that Professor Georg v. Simson has already pointed out attestations that
provide semantic support to my guess. His sa.mvara, as well as sa.mbala
'provision for a journey, viaticum,' in Apte p. 1648, could be later or
dialectal variations of sa.mbhara/sa.mbhaara.

-- ashok aklujkar