Preparation time: 5 min
Cooking time: 10 min
Serves: 4

Ingredients: (measuring cup used = 240ml)

1. 1 cup milk
2. 2 cups water
3. 2 tbsp urad dal
4. 1/2 - 1 tbsp black pepper (adjust as per spice level)
5. 1 tbsp cumin seeds
6. 1/4 cup dry coconut
7. Salt as per your taste
8. 1 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves (optional)

Ingredients for tempering:

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

Instructions for making haalu menasina saaru:

1. In a pan, take urad dal, black pepper and cumin seeds. Dry roast until urad dal turns slightly brown
2. Add in dry coconut and roast everything together for a while and switch off the stove.
3. Wait until warm and transfer them into a mixie jar. Grind it into a fine paste by adding required water.
4. Transfer the ground paste into a container.
5. Add the water, stir it and keep it for boiling.
6. Add salt as per your taste and continue boiling.
7. Add the milk and simmer for few minutes. Please note, we should not boil the saaru or rasam after adding the milk.
8. Switch off the stove and add coriander leaves.
9. Prepare tempering using ghee, mustard, red chilli, asafoetida and curry leaves.
10. Add this tempering to the rasam or saaru. Serve it with hot steaming rice.

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