Bassaaru and sabakki soppu pallaya | Dill leaves and lentil curry

This traditional and authentic Bassaaru and sabakki soppu pallaya from Karnataka, was taught to me by my help. This recipe calls for multiple steps but the end result is so tasty and highly nutritious.

Life with Ragi

I got married in 2003 and have been in Bangalore ever since. Before i write about anything else let me give you some details of the land : Karnataka that i call home. Karnataka formerly known as Mysore state was formed on November 1, 1956. The state has something for every person. It has a rich culture, has beaches, dense forests, hills and exciting cities. Other than rice, the staple for the people of Karnataka includes Ragi (finger millet). Ragi is also used in making ragi mudde, ragi kunji, laddoos and even cakes these days

Ragi kunji was a staple while growing up, but ragi mudde was a totally new food concept for me. I mean, one is supposed to gulp the ragi mudde with saaru and not bite into it?? How is that possible?? Having said that it is all about practice and we are getting there. For the past few years, our saturday lunch has been more or less the same, Ragi mudde with Saaru, many a times we have also switched the saaru with tamil style sambar or even dal. My help Nanjamma always says “ragi thin beku sakthi barum”, which translates to “eating ragi gives one strength”.

Bassaaru and sabakki soppu pallaya – how to make it ??

Recently my help showed us a very different variation of saaru, Bassaru. Bassaaru also roughly translates to “drained saaru” or “drained sambar or rasam”. This saaru is the perfect accompaniment to Ragi Mudde (finger millet flour balls). Bassaaru can be made with dill leaves, spinach leaves and averekkai also. For this recipe i have made Bassaaru with dill leaves and toor dal. This recipe has a series of steps and within those steps there is a lot of interlinking steps..sounds confusing isnt it but the end product is so good that the effort is all worth it.

For this month’s Shhhhh Cooking Secretly Challenge, us food bloggers are cooking recipes from Karnataka. This month i was paired with Amrita Iyer from The Food Samaritan and she gave me dill leaves and toor dal as my secret ingredients. This gave me the perfect opportunity to make Bassaaru and sabakki soppu pallaya.

Couple of other posts that you might like to read:

1) Homemade Sambar Powder Recipe: South Indian style
2) Dantin Soppu (Greens with coconut)

Print Recipe

Ragi Mudde with Bassaru

Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

Indian

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 1 bunch dill leaves (cleaned and finely choppedP
• 5 nos Green chillies (chopped)
• 5 nos Garlic cloves (chopped)
• 3/4th cup toor dal
• 1 nos Onion (finely chopped)
• 3 tsp Jeera (cumin seeds)
• 2 tsp Kadugu/Mustard seeds
• 3 tsp Dhania / coriander powder
• 3 tsp Jeera / cumin powder
• 2-3 nos dried red chillies
• 1 nos lemon sized tamarind ball (soak in 2 tbsp of water for 30 minutes)
• Salt According to taste
• 1/2 cup Chopped coriander leaves: for garnish
• 1/2 cup Grated coconut
• 1 inch Cinamon Stick
• Cloves (a couple of them)
• 2-4 tbsp oil for sauteing
• 1 tsp sambar powder
• 3-4 nos Curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp Hing/ asafoetida powder

Course Main Dish Cuisine Indian Prep Time 30 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes Servings people Ingredients 1 bunch dill leaves (cleaned and finely choppedP 5 nos Green chillies (chopped) 5 nos Garlic cloves (chopped) 3/4th cup toor dal 1 nos Onion (finely chopped) 3 tsp Jeera (cumin seeds) 2 tsp Kadugu/Mustard seeds 3 tsp Dhania / coriander powder 3 tsp Jeera / cumin powder 2-3 nos dried red chillies 1 nos lemon sized tamarind ball (soak in 2 tbsp of water for 30 minutes) Salt According to taste 1/2 cup Chopped coriander leaves: for garnish 1/2 cup Grated coconut 1 inch Cinamon Stick Cloves (a couple of them) 2-4 tbsp oil for sauteing 1 tsp sambar powder 3-4 nos Curry leaves 1/2 tsp Hing/ asafoetida powder

Instructions

Making the dal

1. In a pressure cooker, add dill leaves, salt, some green chillies with 2 cups of water and pressure cook for 2 whistles (here we ensure that the dal / lentil is just cooked and does not get mashed completely
2. Once the pressure is released, drain just the liquid part of the dal mix into a different utensil and let it cool. Remove the dry dill leaves & undercooked dal into another vessel

Making the ground mixture

1. Heat some oil in a kadhai and add jeera, garlic, oinions and little salt. Saute on low flame.
2. Add sambar powder, jeera powder, coriander powder and chiili powder and mix gently
3. To this add cinnamon, cloves, half of the coconut and tamarind paste and mix well
4. Add corinader leaves to this mixture and remove from flame / gas and let the mixture cool
5. Once cooled, grind the mixture into a smooth paste
6. Portion into 3/4th and 1/4th quantities in two separate bowls

For tempering

1. Heat oil in a kadhai, add mustard seeds and let it splutter
2. To this, add jeera, garlic, hing, curry leaves, dried red chillies, onions and sautee till the onions turn pink and soft.
3. Remove from flame / gas and let this cool
4. Divide this into two portions

Making the Bassaaru

1. To the liquid portion of the dal which we have separated, add one portion of the tempering and mix well
2. To this liquid dal mix add 3/4th of the coconut groun mixture and bring the entire concoction to a boil
3. Simmer for a couple of minutes and transfer to the serving bowl

Making the dill leaves dry dal

1. In a kadhai, to the remaining tempering add the 1/4th ground mixture and mix well
2. To the above mixture add the dry dill leaves and undercooked dal and mix well. Garnish with the remaining grated coconut

To serve

1. .Check the salt in both the dry and the liquid dal and then serve as below
2. In a plate, keep the ragi mudde in the centre, serve the liquid dal on one side and add the dry dill leaves - dall mix to another side
3. Take a piece of the soft ragi mudde, dip it into the bassaaru ( liquid dal), take a small portion of dry dal mix and eat