Karnataka

Bele saaru

Name: Bele saaru
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Karnataka
Ingredients: 1/2 cup toor dal (split pigeon peas); Water, about 3 3/4 cups; 1/4 tsp turmeric (ground turmeric); 2 medium chopped tomato; a gooseberry sized ball soaked tamarind; 2 tsp jaggery; 1 1/2 tbsp saaru pudi rasam powder; Salt, to taste; 2 tsp ghee; 1/2 tsp mustard seeds; 1/2 tsp cumin seeds; 1 broken dried red chilli; a pinch asafoetida; 1 sprig curry leaves; a handful chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)

Toor dal, tomato and saaru pudi. Karnataka's everyday hug in a bowl.

40 minTime

7 gProtein each

mediumSpice

Karnataka's rasam3 chapters · 2 min read

Make it your way

Grandma's wayThe original. Handle with reverence.

The original

152kcal

7 gprotein

6 gfibre

40minutes

Per serving, worked out from the ingredient table. Grandma's way is the starting point the other versions are compared with.

Ingredients

Toor dal (split pigeon peas)½ cup

Waterabout 3 3/4 cups

Turmeric (ground turmeric)¼ tsp

Tomato2 medium, chopped

Tamarinda gooseberry sized ball, soaked

Jaggery2 tsp

Rasam powder1½ tbsp saaru pudi

Saltto taste

Ghee2 tsp

Mustard seeds½ tsp

Cumin seeds½ tsp

Dried red chilli1, broken

Asafoetidaa pinch

Curry leaves1 sprig

Coriander leaves (cilantro)a handful, chopped

Method

5 steps

1Pressure cook the toor dal with 2 cups of the water and the turmeric for 4 whistles. Let the pressure release naturally, then mash smooth.
2In a pot, simmer the tomatoes with the rest of the water, tamarind extract, jaggery, saaru pudi and salt.
3Whisk in the mashed dal, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently.
4Heat the ghee, splutter mustard and cumin, add the red chilli, asafoetida and curry leaves and pour over the saaru. Add the coriander and cover for 5 minutes.
5Serve hot with rice and ghee, with a palya on the side.

Serve it like this

Pour over a mound of hot rice with a spoon of ghee, or serve in a cup to sip.

Bloom picks tonight's dinner for your diet and allergies, then cooks it with you step by step.

Bele saaru

Make it your way

Ingredients

Method

Make it a meal