Saar/saru is a very thin soup kind of dish which can be consumed with rice or like soup. I am a big fan of all kinds of sarus as they are very easy to make and very tasty.
I have many childhood memories associated with tomato saru .  While growing up, my grandmother was incharge of our kitchen. During those days, cooking gas was very expensive, so it was used only for making tea/coffee or some quick dishes like sarus . My grandmother used to cook on the  fire created by burning wood. As my father was a great fan of saru made by me, he would ask me to cook this daily. He liked to drink it with his dinner. So we had this for dinner almost every day. After I got married, the frequency of this in our meals considerably reduced, as everybody here liked coconut based dishes. Still I make this once in a while and  this is still one of my favorite dishes.
Few other kinds of sarus – Horsegram(kulitha) saru , Â Limbe saru , Coriander saru , Tomato saru
Ingredients: 2 big tomatoes 1 tea spn jaggery 4 green chillies 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds 1/2 tea spn cumin seeds 4-5 curry leaves 4-5 strands coriander leaves A pinch asafoetida Oil Salt
Method: Heat 3 cups water and cook the tomatoes. Peel them and grind them (do not throw the water, use it for saru). Add enough water to pureed tomato to make it thin (use the water used to cook tomato), add jaggry, salt and green chillies. Bring it to a boil and let it cook for 2-3mins. Heat ghee/oil and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add cumin seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida and add this to the saru. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice or as soup.
Serves : 2 Preparation time : 15mins
Okra/bhindi must be our most favorite vegetable. We buy it every time we go to Indian grocery store here. I love to learn new dishes with this vegetable. So far whatever I tried with this vegetable, it has always been a hit.
This recipe is based on a recipe I saw on TV few years ago. I don’t remember the name of the original dish, it had coconut base, but when I made it, I did not use coconut. It came out very good. Simple and tasty.
Ingredients: 3 cups chopped okra/bhindi 1 tea spn chana dal 1 tea spn + 1/2 tea spn urad dal 1/2 tea spn cumin seeds 1 tea spn coriander seeds 1 tea spn mustard seeds A pinch asafoetida 4-5 red chillies 1 tea spn jaggery 1/2 tea spn tamarind 2-3 cloves 1″ cinnamon 5-6 curry leaves A pinch turmeric Oil Salt
Method: Heat oil and cloves, cinnamon, chana dal, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, 1 tea spn urad dal, red chillies, asafoetida and make into a powder. Heat oil and add mustard seeds, urad dal. When they start popping, add curry leaves. Add okra, salt and turmeric. Fry for a while till they soften. Add the powder, jaggery, tamarind and cook till done.
Serves : 2-3 Preparation time : 20mins
