Preparation time: 5 min
Cooking time: 20 min
Serves: 1.5 litre

Ingredients: (measuring cup used = 240ml)

1. 1/2 cup green gram or hesaru kaalu
2. 1 tomato
3. 1 small gooseberry sized tamarind (or as per your taste)
4. 1 small gooseberry sized jaggery (or as per your taste)
5. 1 tbsp rasam powder
6. 1/2 tsp chilli powder (optional)
7. Big pinch turmeric powder
8. 2 tsp salt (or as per your taste)
9. 1 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves

Ingredients for tempering:

1. 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2. 1/2 red chilli
3. A big pinch of asafoetida or 4 cloves of garlic
4. 5 - 6 curry leaves
5. 2 tsp cooking oil

Instructions for making hesaru kaalu saaru or green gram rasam:

1. Rinse and cook green gram by adding required water.
2. Cook until soft and drain water from cooked green gram.
3. Next, in to the drained water add in chopped tomato and salt.
4. Add in jaggery.
5. Add in tamarind.
6. Cook until tomatoes are cooked and soft.
7. Grind 2 - 3 laddle full of cooked green gram.
8. Add it into the cooked tomato. Also add in required water.
9. Add in rasam powder and turmeric powder. I have added little red chilli powder which is optional. Let it boil.
10. Add in coriander leaves.
11. Bring it to boil and switch off the stove.
12. Temper it with oil, red chili, mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida (or crushed garlic). Serve it with hot steaming rice.

Dear reader, We have a Kannada version of this recipe. Click here to read this recipe in Kannada.