Rasam

Rasam

Rasam is a soothing dish, a sort of comfort food for the South Indian. It can soothe one's nerves and relax the digestive system.  There are various kinds of rasams, tomato rasam, milagu rasam, lemon rasam, mysore rasam and so on. Again methods of preparing rasam vary from region to region.

Here I shall give you the method I learnt from my mother in my early cooking days. It is quick, easy and really tasty!! Nothing like Mom's cooking......

Ingredients

• 1 small lemon size ball of tamarind soaked in warm water

• 2-3 tomatoes medium size...not over-ripe.
• 2 green chillies (split into halves)
• A few scrapping of ginger
• A small bit of asafoetida (hing) or 1/2 tsp. of asafoetida (hing) powder

• 1/2 cup of tuvar dal (thuvaram paruppu)

• A small bunch of coriander leaves (chopped fine)
• A few twigs of curry leaves
• 1 1/2 tsps. salt

• 2 tsps. rasam powder (rasa podi) ( https://radhascooking.blogspot.com/2019/09/rasam-powder.html)

For tempering

• 1 tsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 red chilli broken into bits
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
• 1/4 tsp. jeera

Method of preparation

• Wash the tuvar dal (thuvaram paruppu)  and pressure cook it alongwith tomatoes, green chillies, ginger and asafoetida.
• After 2 whistles, simmer the pressure cooker for 5-6 minutes.
• On cooling, mash the dal well and keep aside.

• Extract the tamarind juice. Make up the tamarind extract to about 2 cups. Add the rasam powder, curry leaves and salt and cook on medium flame for about 8-10 minutes, till the smell of tamarind has gone.

• Now add the mashed dal mixture to the tamarind extract and cook on low flame till it boils and bubbles appear on the surface. Simmer for a few more minutes.
• Switch off the flame.
• Add the chopped coriander leaves and cover.

• Take ghee in a kadai and heat it.
• When hot, add the mustard seeds, broken chilli, asafoetida. When the mustard seeds sputter, add the jeera and temper the rasam.

Rasam ready to be served in bowls

Serve the rasam in bowls. 

Many people love drinking the rasam...It is also eaten as rasam sadam with hot rice.

Rasam Powder

Rasam Powder (Rasa Podi)

Rasam means "elixer" and truly it is a great dish to have daily. However rasams in the south vary depending on the region and the tastes of the people. This is my favourite Jyoti mami's recipe and it has stood me in good stead over the years. The ingredients can either be sun dried or roasted on a low flame.  Families differ in their spice levels. So I suggest that depending on the palate of your family you can vary the chillies. Again Kashmiri or Bydagi chillies are moderate in their "karam" level, which is why I use them. 

Ingredients:

Ordinary red chillies

Bydagi red chillies

• 1 cup -dried red chillies ( Kashmiri or Bydagi)
• 1 cup -Coriander seeds (dhaniya)
• 1/2 cup - Tuvar dal 
• 2 tbsps. Channa dal 
• 2 1/2 tbsps. pepper
• 2 tbsps cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1 small bit of asafoetida (hing)
• 1 tsps turmeric
• Curry leaves - few bunches 

Rasam powder ingredients

Method of preparation

• Clean all the ingredients one by one.
• Wash the curry leaves and wipe dry. 

• Roast the tuvar dal and channa dal in a kadai till they turn golden brown.
• Transfer to a plate or paper to cool.

• Next roast the red chillies and dhaniya with the flame in low. When the chillies become crispy transfer the ingredients to a plate to cool.

• Roast the cumin seeds, pepper and hing and keep aside.
• Roast lightly the curry leaves and keep aside.

Roasted ingredients in mixie

• Once all the above roasted ingredients have cooled, grind them in a blender alongwith turmeric. The pwder should be a little rough as shown in figure.
• Store in an airtight jar and use as required.