Fresh/Raw Pigeon Peas Saaru…my first experience with the beans

Hi.

Days here are quite gloomy as we are amidst heavy rains, one can see flooding all over and the city. Telephone and Internet services are badly affected. Commuting has become painful as one faces traffic jams and the roads too are in bad condition. The state government declared holiday for schools since Friday itself but the kid’s school seemed quite indifferent to all the chaos and was still functional. On top of it they also conducted the KET exam on Saturday and the parents were supposed to drop their kid to school.

Since S, was busy with his CEO it was my turn to drop the kid to school in the rains. My car’s battery was down so I had to drop him on the two wheeler and was thoroughly drenched by the time I reached home. Wading in the floods on the two wheeler where the road was not even visible was surely very scary. I simply followed the vehicles in front observing for any potholes and ditches. By the time I reached home I  already  had headache and throat pain. I decided to have warm food and nothing is more welcome than either some hot soup or saaru (rasam).

I had got hold of some fresh tuvar beans recently and the beans were peeled and ready to use. I was looking out to make something very interesting using the beans as this was my first time with them but at that moment when I was craving for something hot, I decided to use them in making a saaru. I made this saaru in the same line of my avarekaalu saaru with a little variation in the ground masala.

I was very sceptical about the taste as I had never worked with these beans earlier but I was extremely delighted that the saaru turned out very tasty and had a great flavour of the fresh beans. With hot rice and some ghee on top it made a very hearty combination. I’m ready to try out more recipes with these beans surely as my first experience turned out very successful. I wanted to post this on Saturday itself but the server has been mostly down because of  the rains.

Ingredients

a cup and a half peeled pigeon pea beans/ tuvar dal beans

half cup grated fresh coconut

2red chillies

2tbsp rasam powder/saaru podi

2tbsp coriander seeds

1/2tsp cumin seeds

1-1/2tsp tamarind paste

a sprig of curry leaves

1tsp mustard seeds

a pinch of turmeric powder

salt to taste

2-3tsp oil for tempering

finely chopped cilantro

Method

To make the fresh masala for saaru…

Grind to a paste using water, coriander seeds, red chillies, cumin seeds, saaru podi, coconut and a little cooked pigeon peas.

Wash the beans and then boil the beans in water and some salt till cooked.

Mix the masala paste to cooked beans. Adjust salt and mix the tamarind paste. Add enough water to get a saaru consistency (I added about 1 cup water).

Bring it to a boil and temper it with mustard seeds, turmeric and curry leaves.

Boil for 2 more minutes and then serve hot with rice or Chapati.

Sending this to my event ‘Only’ Curries guest hosted by Kamalika and also MLLA41 guest hosted by Simona and is the brainchild of Susan. Also, reposting two of my favourite curries for my event

Paneer Dhaniya

Smoked Cottage Cheese Stuffed Okra

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Mensin Saaru..Coconut and Pepper Rasam

Hi.

Today I am posting an extremely simple yet a very very tasty rasam. This is an all time favorite in my family and every body craves for it on a chilly winter day or a rainy day. There’s an immense satisfaction in drinking this rasam. This is my MIL’s version and I tasted it the first time when post marriage I was down with cold and cough and she very sweetly offered me a glass of this and I was instantly a fan of this preparation.

A few days back my elder son demanded this and then my younger one was showing signs of a throat infection…so this healer mom concocted this ‘RAMBAAN DAVA’ for sore throat and every one enjoyed sipping this hot soup/rasam.

This soup/saaru/rasam  has  the sweet gentle flavor of coconut blended with the strikingly hot flavor of black pepper. In the first sip it soothes the throat and as you sip in further your body just gets engulfed in the warmth that the soup provides. This can be eaten with rice  and can be a part of the meal too. It needs very basic things which are readily available in the kitchen..

Ingredients

1 cup grated coconut

2 spoons urad dal

1 spoon pepper corns

1/4-1/2 cup milk

1 tsp ghee

1/2 tsp mustard

few curry leaves

salt to taste

Method

Heat half spoon ghee and fry Urad dal and pepper corns, grind it along with coconut to a very fine paste. Take the paste in a sauce pan and add about 3 cups water, milk and salt to taste. Boil it. Take the remaining ghee and add the mustard seeds, once they splutter add curry leaves and immediately pour it on the Saaru. Bring another boil and serve immediately.

Sending this to

 

hosted by Sadhana and Muskaan.

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Avarekaalu Saaru- Another recipe with these marvelous beans

Hello everyone! I am posting once again my DH S’s favorite. Now you might say what’s new in that? So true, for people who read my blog regularly this is not at all a new thing. But the new thing is is that S had to really wait and pester me to make this Saaru for him. So on his birthday I treated him with this along with the Aloo Posto. What a weird combo one would say! I agree indeed, as both the recipes have extremely contradictory tastes. If the saaru is from south the Posto is from Bengal. The saaru is spicy and the posto has subtle flavors. The saaru asks for lot of coconut and the other asks for mustard… But the common thing in between both the recipes is that they taste good with hot steamed rice. Suits me!!!! Saves my time in the kitchen and the the DH gets his favorites.

This Saaru is a hot favorite in S’s family, I mean my in laws side. It frequents the kitchen when in season. When we had visited Bangalore recently my MIL had made this for lunch. I asked her the recipe that time but I forgot by the time I actually wanted to cook this. So on the D day I conveniently called up my MIL and asked her all proportions once again. She is a sweetheart and is ever ready to teach me her kind of stuff…especially when she knows it’s to pamper her son. LOL

The recipe is very simple and can be cooked very fast if the rasam podi/saaru podi is ready. It needs very basic ingredients readily available in the kitchen except for the avarekaalu/mochai/surati lilva/lima beans.

Ingredients for Rasam Powder/ Saaru Podi

Coriander seeds-3/4 cup

Bedagi Red chilies-2 cups

Cumin-1 tbsp

Mustard and Fenugreek seeds- 1/2tsp each

roast all the ingredients in a teaspoon of oil and grind together.

Ingredients for Saaru

1. 1-1/2 cups of boiled Avarekaalu

2. a cup of grated fresh coconut

3. a tsp of cumin seeds

4. 2-3 tbsp coriander seeds

5. a tbsp of tamarind pulp

6. 3-4 tbsp saaru podi

for tempering-

2 tsp oil

a tsp of mustard seeds

a sprig of curry leaves

Method

Boil the avarekaalu with some salt till cooked.

Grind together ingredients 2-6 along with 2 tbsp of boiled avarekaalu.

Mix this with the boiled avarekaalu, add water to adjust consistency and season with salt.

Put it on flame and bring it to a boil then temper it with the ingredients given under Tempering. Cook it for few more minutes and then serve it with rice and a dash of ghee.

Sending this to MLLE-18 hosted by Srivalli and is the brainchild of Susan.

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