Saar Recipe/Rasam Recipe |The Mad Scientists Kitchen (2024)

Saaru Anna is the ultimate dinner or lunch that is quick to make especially when you have no time or ingredients.

Saar is prepared for a festive occasion which you sip, festive meals being traditionally filling the Rasam helps to settle the stomach. Another easy-peasy Saar is this Tomato Saar that we love.

If you too have the issue of different what to cook, every day, read on for I am sharing an easy and healthy way to vary your food. Let me know if you want me to share a meal plan! Spread the love, like and share my post. Sign up for my newsletter! (link below) for updates delivered to your inbox every time I post that is once a week generally.

Contents:

• What is Saaru? When is it made?
• How different are Rasam and Sambhar?
• Recipe Card
• Some Tips to make a Great Rasam
• Pin for Later
• Other Rasam Recipes to try

What is Saaru? When is it made?

A Saaru is slightly sour, sweet and spicy soup make with little lentils (if used) you can eat it with rice or drink it. A Saar is also, called Rasam, Chaaru, Saaru, Saathamudhu, Kabir, Charu pani (in Odia).

The main ingredient in a Saaru is a sour agent. This can be anything from tamarind, kokum. Some recipes use green mango too, yes the unripe mangoes. To balance the sour taste the broth is laced with black pepper, coriander seeds, jeera chilli powder, tomatoes and jaggery, yes salt is used.

Some food like this Saaru, we prepare regularly but the idea that I need to update my post did not occur to me. It is my everyday food who will be interested in it?

But now that my girls are flying out and they are asking me, "Maaaa how to rasam?" My eyes popped open this is one basic recipe they asked for. According to them Pineapple Rasam and tomato saar are not what they want. Katin Saar is okay but Andhra Pachi Pulusu is the best.

A good Saar is made with the homemade spice or saaru masala. You can make it and it in an airtight container. But there are good powders available commercially, use them. The only vegetable added in my place is tomato which I boil with pigeon pea lentil.

How different are Rasam and Sambhar?

People think sambhar and saaru are the same. No, they are not! They vastly differ in consistency, flavour profile and quantity of ingredients.

The taste I do not think I can write about other than rasam is a sweet, spicy and sour soup-like liquid whereas sambhar is more thick, heavy in vegetables and slightly less sour.

• So the consistency is easy a sambhar is thick stew while the Saaru is more fluid. You can drink saaru from a bowl sambhar you cannot.
• A sambhar has some vegetables in it while the rasam is sometimes made even without a tomato.
• Sambhar uses a lot of lentils a rasam hardly any.
• The spice mix is different too.

To make the Charu you will need the masala/spice mix. The detailed recipe is here but for your convenience, I am adding it here too.

Ingredients for Saar:

• Toor dal:Arhar dal, turichi dal, togri bali pigeon pea dal you need very little of this dal. You can try using moong dal, split green bean, hesar bali.
• Tomato:one ripe tomato.
• Tempering for the saar:oil/ ghee, mustard, curry leaves, red chillies, haldi, asafoetida. (see notes below)
• Tamarind: Any souring agent like kokum, lemon, green mango is fine. Use what you have at hand.
• Saar Masala:I generally use homemade Saaru masala but any readymade ones you like are also fine. (I am adding the saaru masala recipe below)
• Jaggery:My mother did not use jaggery but in my in-law's place it is used. I treat this as an optional ingredient.

How to make Saaru Malasa Recipe:

• Ingredients you will need are
  • Coriander Seeds: Use fresh coriander seeds.
  • Hing: I use a small piece of asafoetida but you can use a good powdered one too about 1tbablespoon should be enough. Only remember since the powder uses flour your spice mix will not be gluten-free.
  • Methi: Fenugreek seeds like many other South Indian recipes Rasam powder needs methi seeds. Do not skip it.
  • Pepper: Black peppercorns are a must for this Saaru mix.
  • Jeera: Cumin seeds use the normal jeera. The flavour changes if you use Shahi Jeera and I had to throw out my masala.
  • Mustard: Rai brings out the flavours so do not avoid.
  • Red Chillies: I prefer to use Badgi Mirchi they have the flavour and the colour too. I use 45 of them for this amount of rasam powder. You can use any other chilli Kashmiri, Guntur chillies. Only remember the pungency of these chillies Kashmiri is very mild but Guntur is pungent! You can use chilli powder too.
  • Curry leaves: Kadi Patta this is what you can skip but I will not recommend. In fact, I add more curry leaves these days.
  • Oil: All these ingredients you need to stirfry. Use any oil that does not smell I recommend rice bran, groundnut and sunflower oil.
• How to make Saaru Masala:
  • In oil in a kadhai/wok fry hing remove from oil. (see notes below).
  • Add methi remove from oil. Drain and set aside.
  • Fry pepper, mustard, and jeera. Individually! Drain and set aside.
  • In the coriander seeds add red chillies, curry leaves and fry till crisp. (see notes below).
  • Cool and dry grind. Store in an airtight container. Use a dry spoon to add to your Saaru.

How to make Saaru:

• Rinse the toor dal and tomato. Add water and haldi to the dal. Cut the tomato in quarters and add to the dal. To save time you can add rinsed rice in another container with enough water. Cover and pressure cook the dal and rice for 2 whistles on big flame 1 on low flame. Let the pressure drop naturally.
• Meanwhile, soak the tamarind in ¼ cup of water and extract the juice. Set aside.
• Once the pressure drops remove the dal and mash the tomato. Run an immersion mixer and grind the dal and tomato. These days I dry my curry leaves and add the powder to our food as kids do not like the leaves in the mouth or it graces the edge of their plate.
• Make a tempering heat oil/ghee in a pan and add the mustard when it splutters add the red chillies and asafoetida.
• Add the boiled dal mixture, tamarind juice extract, jaggery(if using), masala, salt and bring to boil.
• You can adjust to suit your taste.
• Add more or less tomato, add lemon juice, garnish with coriander leaves( I do not).

Recipe Card:

Some Tips to make a Great Rasam:

• When making the saaru pudi and using powdered hing and chilli powder then do not fry them. As you remove the pepper, mustard, jeera add the powders on the hot ingredients.
• You can dry the curry leaves by dry frying in an empty pan or the microwave. Adding the powdered curry leaves.
• You can avoid the tomato and use just the kokum or tamarind.
• In case you plan to use lemon juice add it after you get the pan off the flame. The reason is boiling kills the nutrients in Vitamin C.

Rasam Or Chaaru is made often in my place and we love it! Makes a great sipping soup as well as something you can eat your rice with. A warm and filling meal anytime of the day that can be made in 30 minutes!

This is an old post that I am updating with newer pictures and a write-up as a part of the group Foodies_RedoingOld Post.

Pin for Later:

Other Rasam Recipes to try:

• Kalyani's Poricha Rasam.
• Mayuri's Mysuru Saaru/Mysore Rasam
• Aruna's Drumstick Rasam.
• Priya's Orange Rasam.
• Poonam's Garlic Rasam/Poondu Rasam.
• Priya VJ's Kalyanam Rasam.

More Different Everyday Curry and Gravy