Togari Bele Tovve Recipe – Toor Dal Rasam

Tovve is native to South India and it is called by different names according to the region and the people. While Tamilians call as Rasam, it is labelled as Tovve in Karnataka. Tovve is basically a mild lentil dish cooked with ghee in a tamarind based gravy without any exotic spices. It is also known as Kattu Saaru, where Kattu refers to dal in Kannada. Tovve is a versatile recipe and can be prepared with any kind of dals and vegetable. Togari Bele Tovve is prepared using red gram dal. This simple comforting dish doesn’t call for any spices, doesn’t involve any complex cooking techniques and moreover, they can be prepared within few minutes. Course : Lunch Ingridients : 1 cup Arhar dal (Split Toor Dal) 5 cups Water 1 teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi) 1 teaspoon Ginger , finely grated 5 Green Chillies , slit (adjust) 30 grams Tamarind 1/2 Lemon juice 1 tablespoon Ghee 1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds (Rai/ Kadugu) 1/4 teaspoon Asafoetida (hing) Curry leaves , Handful Coriander (Dhania) Leaves , Handful Instructions To begin making the Togari Bele Tovve recipe, soak dal in water for about 30 minutes.Wash the dals thoroughly with water. In a pressure cooker, add soaked dal, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder, 2 cups of water and pressure cook for 3 whistles. Turn off the flame and allow the pressure to release naturally. Soak Tamarind in a bowl of hot water and extract tamarind Juice. We need 1-1/2 cup of tamarind juice for tovve.Once the dal is cooked, gently mash the dal with the back of the ladle.In a wok/kadai, add ghee and gently heat over medium flame.Once the ghee melts, add mustard seeds followed by curry leaves, ginger, and green chilies.Cook until the aroma of ginger fades out and chilies are lightly fried.Add tamarind water to the pan and bring it to boil. Add the remaining turmeric powderLet it boil. Once the raw smell of tamarind goes off, add cooked dal and required amount of salt.Cook until froth forms on top of the tovve. Ensure not to boil it again.Season with hing and give a stir. Switch off the flame. Add lemon juice and combine it well.Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with steam rice or idlisTovve can be prepared with Moong dal by following the same procedure. One can adjust the amount of Tamarind or completely avoid the same according to their desires. In such cases, add the juice of a lemon.Serve this humble Togari Bele Tovve with hot steaming rice and Beetroot Thoran or with Spongy Idlis and Mysore Chutney to please your tummy as well as your taste buds.