Preparation time: 5 min
Cooking time: 10 min
Serves: 1 litre

Ingredients: (measuring cup used = 240ml)

1. Little less than 1/2 cup toor dal
2. Big pinch turmeric powder
3. 1 small lemon sized tamarind (or as per your taste)
4. 1 small lemon sized jaggery (or as per your taste)
5. 2 tsp salt (or as per your taste)
6. 1 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
7. Few curry leaves
8. 1 tsp cooking oil
9. 4 - 5 cups of water

Ingredients for the powder: (measuring cup used = 240ml)

1. 5 - 6 red chillies
2. 2 tsp coriander seeds
3. 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
4. 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
5. 10-12 methi seeds
6. 1/2 tsp cooking oil

Ingredients for tempering:

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

Instructions for making thili saaru or rayara matha rasam:

1. Take toor dal in a pressure cooker and rinse it well.
2. Add in a cup of water, turmeric and few drops of oil. Cook the dal until soft.
3. Mash the dal.
4. Add in 3 cups of water and start cooking the dal again. Dal should be cooked well and combined well with the water. Make sure there are no bits and pieces of dal. Strain it if required.
5. Heat a frying pan. Add in red chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, methi seeds and 1/2 tsp of oil.
6. Roast until mustard and cumin seeds start to splutter under low flame.
7. Wait until cool. Grind it into a fine powder.
8. Now to the cooked dal, add in salt as per your taste.
9. Add jaggery.
10. Add tamarind.
11. Add in water if required. Give a quick mix and bring it to boil.
12. Add in prepared spice powder and bring it to rolling boil.
13. Add in chopped coriander leaves, few curry leaves and switch off the stove.
14. Prepare tempering with oil, red chili, mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida. Serve it with hot steaming rice.

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