Soppu Saaru is a classic Karnataka home style dish that is so nutritious and makes a perfect side dish for everyday meal. Recipe with step by step pictures and video. This video is in collaboration with Deep Rooted.Co Soppu in Kannada means greens. This soppu saaru is made with mixed greens. The greens are cooked with veggies and lentils. The cooked greens and lentils are mashed and a simple tempering of fried garlic with spices is added at the end. The flavor of garlic is what makes this dish divine. Soppu saaru is a comforting meal! It’s so simple to make and very nutritious too. Traditionally, it is served with Ragi Mudde or rice. Try to add as many varieties of greens as possible while making this recipe. Along with the greens, I also add some coriander stems as they are very flavorful. When I was young, I never liked greens much. Every day, the “keerai kaara amma” or the greens lady would bring a basket overflowing with greens, harvested fresh that morning. My mom would buy greens almost every single day from her. I used to pray every day hoping she wouldn’t turn up. I never realized that it was a blessing to have such fresh produce. But things have changed for sure today and I try to include as many greens as I can every day.
Adding fresh greens makes all the difference in this recipe. Fresh greens are more nutritious too. I buy my greens from Deep Rooted.Co. Their on-time delivery makes it so easy for me to plan my meals ahead of time. Their veggies are grown on farms not very far away from our homes. Their farm-fresh produce cultivated by local farmers is delivered within 20 hours of harvest! If you are in Bangalore, do give them a try.
Here are the things you can buy online for making Soppu Saaru – Mixed Greens Mash with Lentils 3 liter Pressure Cooker Earthen Clay Pot Here is the video of how to make Soppu Saaru – Mixed Greens Mash with Lentils
Here is how to make Soppu Saaru – Mixed Greens Mash with Lentils Clean and Wash the greens. Use a variety of greens for a nice flavour. You can use whatever greens you have on hand. We need roughly about 4 cups. Chop them and set aside.
Take a pressure cooker and add in the washed toor dal. Add the dal first so it cooks to a tender consistency. Add in the chopped greens, garlic, tomatoes, onions, curry leaves, green chillies, tamarind and two cups of water. I also add a few coriander stems. The stems of the coriander is more flavorful than the leaves.
Pressure cook for about 10-12 minutes on medium flame. Ignore the number of whistles. Let the pressure settle before opening.
After opening, strain the stock a little so its easy to mash. We will add the stock back later. I use a potato masher to mash the lentils. Traditionally a wooden “mathu” is used to mash. You can use whatever you are comfortable with. If you are hard pressed for time, you can even pulse it in the mixie once. But make sure that the mixture is very slightly grainy and not very smooth. Set aside.
Tempering the soppu saaru Heat oil in a pan and add in the crushed garlic along with the peel. Roast the garlic till its crisp and light brown in colour. Add in the mustard, cumin, curry leaves and red chillies. Saute for a few seconds. Let the mustard seeds crackle.
Add in the spice powders namely hing, turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Saute for a few seconds.
Add in the strained stock and the mashed green-lentil mixture. Add in the salt. Adjust the consistency of the saaru by adding little more water if necessary. Simmer for a few minutes.
Delicious Soppu Saaru is ready.
Main Ingredients
1/3 cup toor dal, washed 4 cups mixed greens (coriander, methi, spinach, red amaranthus, green amaranthus etc…) 1 pod country garlic, small garlic 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped 1/4 cup onions, roughly chopped few coriander stems 2 sprig curry leaves 2 green chillies 1/2 gooseberry sized tamarind 2 cups water
For the Tempering
1 tablespoon coconut oil 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds 1 sprig curry leaves 2 dried red chillies 1/4 teaspoon hing 1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder 1 teaspoon salt
Clean and Wash the greens. Use a variety of greens for a nice flavour. You can use whatever greens you have on hand. We need roughly about 4 cups. Chop them and set aside. Take a pressure cooker and add in the washed toor dal. Add the dal first so it cooks to a tender consistency. Add in the chopped greens, garlic, tomatoes, onions, curry leaves, green chillies, tamarind and two cups of water. I also add a few coriander stems. The stems of the coriander is more flavorful than the leaves. Pressure cook for about 10-12 minutes on medium flame. Ignore the number of whistles. Let the pressure settle before opening.
After opening, strain the stock a little so its easy to mash. We will add the stock back later. I use a potato masher to mash the lentils. Traditionally a wooden “mathu” is used to mash. You can use whatever you are comfortable with. If you are hard pressed for time, you can even pulse it in the mixie once. But make sure that the mixture is very slightly grainy and not very smooth. Set aside.
Tempering the soppu saaru Heat oil in a pan and add in the crushed garlic along with the peel. Roast the garlic till its crisp and light brown in colour. Add in the mustard, cumin, curry leaves and red chillies. Saute for a few seconds. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add in the spice powders namely hing, turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Saute for a few seconds. Add in the strained stock and the mashed green-lentil mixture. Add in the salt. Adjust the consistency of the saaru by adding little more water if necessary. Simmer for a few minutes.
Delicious Soppu Saaru is ready.
- Author: Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 10m
- Cook Time: 20m
Main Ingredients
1/3 cup toor dal, washed 4 cups mixed greens (coriander, methi, spinach, red amaranthus, green amaranthus etc…) 1 pod country garlic, small garlic 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped 1/4 cup onions, roughly chopped few coriander stems 2 sprig curry leaves 2 green chillies 1/2 gooseberry sized tamarind 2 cups water
For the Tempering
1 tablespoon coconut oil 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds 1 sprig curry leaves 2 dried red chillies 1/4 teaspoon hing 1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder 1 teaspoon salt
Clean and Wash the greens. Use a variety of greens for a nice flavour. You can use whatever greens you have on hand. We need roughly about 4 cups. Chop them and set aside. Take a pressure cooker and add in the washed toor dal. Add the dal first so it cooks to a tender consistency. Add in the chopped greens, garlic, tomatoes, onions, curry leaves, green chillies, tamarind and two cups of water. I also add a few coriander stems. The stems of the coriander is more flavorful than the leaves. Pressure cook for about 10-12 minutes on medium flame. Ignore the number of whistles. Let the pressure settle before opening.
After opening, strain the stock a little so its easy to mash. We will add the stock back later. I use a potato masher to mash the lentils. Traditionally a wooden “mathu” is used to mash. You can use whatever you are comfortable with. If you are hard pressed for time, you can even pulse it in the mixie once. But make sure that the mixture is very slightly grainy and not very smooth. Set aside.
Tempering the soppu saaru Heat oil in a pan and add in the crushed garlic along with the peel. Roast the garlic till its crisp and light brown in colour. Add in the mustard, cumin, curry leaves and red chillies. Saute for a few seconds. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add in the spice powders namely hing, turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Saute for a few seconds. Add in the strained stock and the mashed green-lentil mixture. Add in the salt. Adjust the consistency of the saaru by adding little more water if necessary. Simmer for a few minutes.
Delicious Soppu Saaru is ready.
- Author: Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 10m
- Cook Time: 20m
Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/soppu-saaru/
Recipe for Traditional Kongunadu style Mutton Thanni Kuzhambu and Mutton Varuval Recipe. This is a two in one recipe. Recipe with step by step pictures and video.
The Mutton Thanni Kuzhambu is a popular kuzhambu / curry in Kongunadu region especially in Erode and Salem areas. “Thanni” means water. The mutton curry is made to a watery / soupy consistency. After making the curry, the mutton pieces are removed from the curry and made into a stir-fry with lots of de-seeded red chillies and powdered black pepper. The flavour of dried red chillies roasted in oil tastes divine with mutton. It is not very spicy at all as its deseeded. This is like a two-in one recipe. Traditionally mutton liver, brain etc.. is added along with regular mutton for added flavour. In some homes, steamed mutton blood is added to the mutton Varuval. I have not used any offal today. But make sure you use bone-in mutton as all the flavour lies in the bone and it gets released into the curry while it cooks making it very flavorful. This dish goes so well with tiffin items like idli and dosai as well as for lunch with rice. This recipe is very similar to my Athama’s Kongunadu mutton kuzhambu. The difference is in the preparation.
Here are the things you may buy online for making this recipe. Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker – 5 Liters Carote Granite Pan Heavy Duty Indian Mixie Indian Sesame Oil
Here is the video of how to make Mutton Thanni Kuzhambu and Mutton Varuval Recipe
Here is how to do Mutton Thanni Kuzhambu and Mutton Varuval Recipe
There are two steps to this recipe. First is making the curry / kuzhambu and then the second is making the varuval / stir fry. First we shall make the kuzhambu. For making the kuzhambu, we will need to make a masala paste from scratch. Here is how to do it.
Take a heavy pan and add in little oil. For this recipe we will be using Indian style sesame oil / Nallaennai throughout the recipe. Add in the dried red chillies and sauté for a few seconds till the red chillies fluff up. Remove from the pan and set aside. Do not let the chillies turn color or brown a lot. Eyes on the pan please.
In the same pan, add in all the spices namely cinnamon, cloves, fennel, black pepper, coriander and curry leaves. I have used Ceylon cinnamon today. The regular Indian cinnamon / Cassia will also perfectly well in this recipe. Roast on a low flame till the spices are slightly brown and roasted. Remove from the pan and set aside on a plate to cool.
In the same pan, add in the garlic and the Indian shallots. I have used the small garlic / country garlic for making this recipe. Small garlic is more robust in flavour and goes very well for this recipe. If you cannot find small garlic, regular garlic will do. Peeling the garlic is a pain but its worth it. Saute for 3-4 minutes till the shallots are soft.
Add in the ginger and the tomatoes and sauté for a few more minutes till the tomatoes are mushy.
Set aside on a plate to cool. when the mixture is slightly cool, add a cup of water and grind to a smooth paste. Make sure to grind to a smooth paste.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker. I have used a 5 liter pressure cooker today. Add in the curry leaves and the mutton pieces. Saute for a minute. Add in the salt and the turmeric powder and continue to sauté for a couple of minutes.
Add in the ground paste. Add in 750 ml / 3 cups of water to the pan. Mix well.
Add a handful of green chillies. Keep the chillies whole. The chillies are only for flavour and not for the heat. Cover the cooker and cook for 20 minutes on medium flame. Ignore the number of whistles. After the 20 minutes, remove the pressure cooker from heat and set aside. Let the pressure settle on its own.
In the mean time, grind the fried gram dal, poppy seeds and coconut with little water to a fine paste. You can also soak the poppy seeds in water for 5 minutes and then grind it so it grinds to a fine paste. Add it to the kuzhambu.
Simmer the kuzhambu for 5 minutes.
At this stage, remove the mutton pieces from the kuzhambu and set aside in a bowl. Leave a few pieces of mutton in the kuzhambu as some folks like to have mutton covered in gravy.
Now, lets do a tempering for the kuzhambu. Heat oil in a small kadai and add in the sliced shallots. Saute till the shallots are lite golden in colour. Add in the curry leaves and black pepper powder. Do not sauté for long after adding the black pepper powder. Add the tempering to the kuzhambu. Mutton Thanni Kuzhambu is ready.
Mutton Varuval Now, lets move on to the second part of the recipe. Lets make a varuval. Heat oil in a pan and add in the garlic, curry leaves and the de-seeded dried red chillies. Since its de-seeded, they are not spicy. The seeds are very spicy. If you want a very spicy varuval, you can add some of the seeds. The flavour of the dried red chillies roasted in oil pairs very well with the mutton. Add the sliced small onions / shallots. Add in a little salt. Go easy on the salt. We can adjust the seasoning later if need be. Saute till the onions are soft.
Add a little kuzhambu / gravy that we made earlier. Saute for a minute. Add in the cooked mutton pieces and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add in the black pepper powder. The black pepper powder is what elevates this varuval to a “vera” level.
Add in the coriander leaves and sauté for a couple of minutes. The varuval is ready.
Mutton thanni kuzhambu and mutton varuval is ready.
For the Thanni Kuzhambu Masala
1.5 tablespoon Indian sesame oil (divided) 5 dried red chillies, Guntur variety 1/2 inch piece cinnamon – Ceylon 6 cloves 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 1 tablespoon black pepper 3 tablespoon coriander seeds 2 sprigs curry leaves 1 pod country garlic – small garlic 1/2 cup Indian shallots, small onions 1 inch piece ginger, chopped 2 tomatoes, diced 1 cup water
Other Ingredients for Thanni Kuzhambu
1.5 teaspoon Indian sesame oil 2 sprigs curry leaves 1 kilogram Mutton, bone-in 1 teaspoon turmeric powder 1.5 teaspoon salt 750 ml water 1 handful green chillies, whole
Coconut Paste for Thanni Kuzhambu
1 tablespoon fried gram dal – pottu kadalai 2 teaspoon white poppy seeds 1/4 cup fresh shredded coconut 1/2 cup water to grind
For Tempering the Thanni Kuzhambu
2 teaspoon Indian sesame oil 3 tablespoon sliced Indian shallots 2 sprigs curry leaves 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
Mutton Varuval
2 tablespoon Indian sesame oil 1 pod country garlic – small garlic 2 sprig curry leaves 10 dried red chillies, de-seeded 1 cup Indian shallots, sliced 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup thanni kuzhambu / gravy from above *** cooked mutton from above *** 1 tablespoon black pepper powder 3 sprigs coriander leaves, chopped
Thanni Kuzhambu
Take a heavy pan and add in little oil. Add in the dried red chillies and sauté for a few seconds till the red chillies fluff up. Remove from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, add in all the spices namely cinnamon, cloves, fennel, black pepper, coriander and curry leaves. Roast on a low flame till the spices are slightly brown and roasted. Remove from the pan and set aside on a plate to cool. In the same pan, add in the garlic and the Indian shallots. Saute for 3-4 minutes till the shallots are soft. Add in the ginger and the tomatoes and sauté for a few more minutes till the tomatoes are mushy. Set aside on a plate to cool. when the mixture is slightly cool, add a cup of water and grind to a smooth paste. Make sure to grind to a smooth paste.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add in the curry leaves and the mutton pieces. Saute for a minute. Add in the salt and the turmeric powder and continue to sauté for a couple of minutes. Add in the ground paste. Add in 750 ml / 3 cups of water to the pan. Mix well. Add a handful of green chillies. Cover the cooker and cook for 20 minutes on medium flame. Ignore the number of whistles. After the 20 minutes, remove the pressure cooker from heat and set aside. Let the pressure settle on its own.
In the mean time, grind the fried gram dal, poppy seeds and coconut with little water to a fine paste. Add it to the kuzhambu. Simmer the kuzhambu for 5 minutes.
At this stage, remove the mutton pieces from the kuzhambu and set aside in a bowl. Leave a few pieces of mutton in the kuzhambu as some folks like to have mutton covered in gravy.
Heat oil in a small kadai and add in the sliced shallots. Saute till the shallots are lite golden in colour. Add in the curry leaves and black pepper powder. Do not sauté for long after adding the black pepper powder. Add the tempering to the kuzhambu. Mutton Thanni Kuzhambu is ready.
Mutton Varuval
Heat oil in a pan and add in the garlic, curry leaves and the de-seeded dried red chillies. Add the sliced small onions / shallots. Add in a little salt. Saute till the onions are soft. Add a little kuzhambu / gravy that we made earlier. Saute for a minute. Add in the cooked mutton pieces and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add in the black pepper powder. Add in the coriander leaves and sauté for a couple of minutes. The varuval is ready.
- Author: Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 20m
- Cook Time: 40m
