Basarru in kannada, basidu madida saaru means curry out of the water or soup drained from the cooked vegetables/dal/greens. This curry can be prepared with lot of combinations like any greens with any gram/ dal and any vegetable. Like dil with french beans, cabbage and dal, ridge gourd and dal… These combinations are cooked and the water or the stock what you drain, to that add some masala and season is Bassaru. And the cooked vegetable is seasoned and served as a sabzi or a side dish.

Preparation time – 15 min

Cooking time – 30 min

Serves – 4

Ingredients – 

To pressure cook –

Tur dal – 1/2 cup

Ridge gourd – 2 medium cut into cubes

Brinjal /egg plant – 4 no’s cut into cubes

To grind –

To fry –

Onion – 1 small chopped

Cumin – 2 tsp

Pepper – 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves – 1/2 spring

Other ingredients –

Coconut – 1/2 cup grated

Onion – 1 small chopped roughly

Garlic – 10 to 12 cloves

Coriander – 1 small bunch

Green chilies – 4 to 5 (boiled/cooked)

Tur dal – 1/2 cup cooked

Tomato – 1 medium

Tamarind – 1 small marble sized

For tempering –

Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves – 1 or 2 springs

Oil – 1 tsp

Method – 

To make or to prepare Bussaru with ridge gourd-

Wash tur dal, pressure cook/cook  separately until it is done, strain it with a colander collect the stock  from it. Add veggies in the same dal stock, add green chilies on it and cook until vegges are cooked/ done. Once it is done remove chilies from it, set aside to grind. Add salt to cook veggies.

Remove 1/2 cup of cooked dal to grind as shown above in the picture. Set aside

Add remaining dal into cooked vegges , stir and strain it together and

Collect the stock from it. Allow the mixture to cool.

Mean while dry roast cumin and pepper to light brown in a medium flame and set aside.

Add 1 tsp of oil in the same pan add chopped onion and curry leaves fry until onion turns to golden brown, remove and set aside to cool.

Take a mixer jar add fried ingredients to a mixer jar, add other ingredients except cooked dal and tomato, Grind it to a paste by adding water, when it is done

Add cooked dal and tomato into it and grind it together and make a paste out of it.

Add grounded paste into stock and stir as there is no lumps in it.Add water to your consistency, bring it to boil in a medium flame for 5 to 1o min.

Ingredients to prepare palya/sabzi for bassaru –

Onion – 2 medium chopped

Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Red chilies – 3 to 4 broken into pieces

Coconut – 1/4 cup grated

Oil to fry

Method –

Heat oil in a kadai, when it is hot add mustard seeds into it, when it starts to splutter add chilied and curry leaves saute, add chopped onions and fry till it is translucent

Add drained vegges into it.

Combine together in a medium flame.

Add grated coconut into it mix properly, remove it from the flame and set aside.

Take a tadka pan add little oil in it add mustard seeds in it when it begins to splutter add curry leaves remove from the flame add this prepared tempering to curry.

Stir it with the curry close the lid of it.

Traditional Bassaru is ready. Serve hot steamed rice/ best when it is served with ragi mudde/balls.

Note – 

Chop or cut ridge gourd to your desired type, Check the taste of the ridge gourd before you start, if it is sweet in taste it is right to prepare any dish out of it, when it is bitter to taste it is not fit to use/ it spoils the taste of the dish when prepared so check before you start to prepare.

You can also try Bussaru prepared with dill and french beans recipe,

Bassaru with Greens and Beans recipe