Avarekalu Saaru

I am a huge fan of avarekalu (papdi lilva). I always thought that avarekalu season in bangalore was sometime during november/december. I was surprised when I found fresh avarekalu recently and had to buy some.


Ingredients:

1 cup avarekalu/papdi lilva
1 cup toor dal
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 tbsp rasam powder
1 tsp chana dal
1 tsp cumin seeds/jeera
1 tsp dhaniya/coriander seeds
2-3 red chillies
jaggery to taste
1/2 tamarind paste
curry leaves
pinch of hing
1/2 tsp curry leaves
freshly ground black pepper(optional)
salt
1 tsp ghee


Method:

Dry roast chana dal, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and red chillies separately. Grind the spices with coconut and keep aside. Pressure cook avarekalu along with toor dal and salt. Boil rasam powder with water and tamarind paste. Add the ground mixture, jaggery, toor dal, avarekalu and salt. Boil for a couple of minutes. Heat a small kadai, add ghee. When hot, add the mustard seeds, hing, pepper, curry leaves and turn off the heat. Mix well with the saaru and serve hot with ghee and rice.

Serves 4