Bas saaru



Bas saaru, is a red curry made from water that is drained from boiled vegetables and/or lentils. One super healthy curry! It can be made from a combination of lentils and vegetables or greens. I have posted some combinations at the end. In this recipe, I have used, dill, cabbage and dal.

What I used: Serves 4
1cup thogri bele (toor dal)
½ cup cabbage diced medium or small pieces
½ cup dill diced to medium bits.
Salt to taste
Get these items together, to grind to a paste.
1tsp curry powder
1 medium tomato
1 cup fresh cilantro (coriander)
2-3 medium sized garlic petals
¼ tsp tamarind paste (¼ inch fresh cleaned tamarind)
1 small onion  (cut into two, keep one half on the stove, on direct flame or electric coil, so its charred, use the other raw half as is, set aside)
To temper the vegetables
1 small onion cut lengthwise
½ tsp each- uddina bele (urad dal) and kadale bele (channa dal)
Red pepper flakes/whole red chilies, a few. Salt to taste.





Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a thick bottom skillet/cooker pan. Add washed dal, and cook on medium for about 10-12 minutes. The dal will begin to crack on the sides, with a firm center, add the chopped cabbage. Cook for 5 minutes covered. The cabbage should be crunchy, not soft. Now add the chopped dill and salt to taste. Cook for another 3 minutes uncovered. Turn off the heat.

Invert the water mixture on to a colander, and store the drained water. Let the cabbage cool. Take 2 Tbsp of cooked dal, and add it to the blender, along with the grinding ingredients mentioned. Add the drained water to the paste, when grinding.



Mix the ground paste with the boiled vegetable water to form a curry. Temper it with mustard and cumin seeds in ghee or hot oil. For the boiled vegetables, they can be eaten as is, or tempered with some onions, red pepper flakes, kadale and uddina bele (again dals). Dont forget to add some more salt!

Here are some combinations you can make the curry with. Basic recipe stays the same, Boil the lentils and vegetables in enough water, strain out and separate the cooked vegetables and water, use the vegetables as a side dish, and the water to grind with the curry ingredients.
Green beans and thogri bele (toor dal)
Hesarkaalu (green dal) alone, or with cabbage
Dhantu soppu ( Amarnath leaves or chinese red leaf greens)