Light, fresh and vibrant

“So that’s probably the ideal in that I would love for people to learn these techniques and start applying them in their everyday cooking or different recipes. But if I can get one reader to just understand that concept and make one of these recipes a staple in their house, I would be happy.”

Agrawal grew up with South and North Indian dishes on the table. Both of her parents cook, and while her mother hails from the South, her father is from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Before she was born, her parents left India for the U.S., settling in New Jersey.

Because of this fact, Agrawal says she’s often asked to speak to the differences between the two regional cuisines. She says that due to immigration patterns, people in North America are often more familiar with Northern than Southern Indian cuisine.

“The meals that we would eat at home were always a mixture of North and South Indian. My dad makes breads and a lot of curries … and my mother makes a lot of rice, sambar (vegetable stew), lentil dishes, and rasam (spicy and sour tomato lentil soup; recipe follows). South Indian food is more rice- and lentil-based: you’ll have a stir-fry, yogurt and rice. It’s light and refreshing but also carries a lot of heat to it,” she says.

“It was a usual thing to have a mixture of these two types of food on the table. I didn’t realize until I was older that it’s actually an anomaly … In a lot of Indian homes, it’s not a usual thing that someone from the North and South marry, especially in my parents’ generation.”

Among the many differences, she highlights that garam masala is a widely used spice blend in the North, whereas in the South, saaru (or rasam) powder and sambar (or huli) powder are commonplace. And while chai is the hot drink of choice in the North, in the South, it’s coffee with chicory.

In the case of ingredients that overlap — such as tamarind and lentils — Agrawal says they may be used more in one than the other, or used in different ways. However, as she points out, this general comparison doesn’t even begin to capture the diversity of Indian cuisine.

“I’m familiar with North and South Indian cooking but there’s cooking from West and East, Central India and other regions that are totally different as well. It’s infinite. Even within my family, I would have aunts sending me recipes that were completely different than my mom’s … You know that word ‘authentic’? … I have no idea what authentic means,” Agrawal says with a laugh. Have the cooked dal ready. In a soup pot, combine the tomatoes, saaru powder, salt, and 1 cup of the water. Bring to a boil and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Make sure the saaru powder has dissolved well; you can use a whisk or egg beater. You should start to see a golden residue forming on the top of the boiling soup. Add the jaggery and tamarind paste.

When the soup is red in colour and the tomatoes are falling apart, add the cooked dal to the pot. Add the remaining 2 cups of water to the pot. Bring to a boil, then continue to simmer for 10 minutes.

During this time, adjust the water quantity to your preference. Taste for sourness and add more tamarind paste if needed. Traditionally, this recipe has a thin broth on top with the cooked dal resting on the bottom of the pot. Taste the saaru; it should taste sour, spicy, sweet, and salty. Turn off the heat.

Put the ghee in a tempering pot or small pan over medium heat. When melted, add one black mustard seed. When the seed sizzles and pops, add the rest of the mustard seeds and the asafetida. Keep a lid handy to cover the pan while the mustard seeds are popping. When the popping starts to subside (a few seconds), stir in the cumin seeds and cinnamon. When the seeds turn a darker shade of brown (a few seconds), turn the heat to medium-low. Rub the curry leaves between your fingers a little to release their natural oils, and drop them into the ghee. Cover immediately, as moisture from the curry leaves will cause the ghee to spatter. Then stir to evenly coat everything with ghee, a few seconds. Turn off the heat.

Immediately pour the spiced ghee over the saaru. To get all of the ghee out of the pan, put a spoonful or two of the saaru in the small pan, stir, and then spoon it back into the pot. Taste for salt and adjust as needed. Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves.

Serve hot with rice and green bean and coconut stirfry, or eat plain. It also pairs well with yogurt and hot lemon pickle.

When reheating the saaru, you may have to add a bit of water, as it has a tendency to thicken up in the fridge.