RASAM

RASAM:

INGREDIENTS:

Tamarind – a marble size ball,

Tomatoes – 1,

Water – ½ lit – 3 glasses,

Black pepper and cumin powder – 2 tsp,
Garlic cloves – 6 – crushed with skin,

Curry leaves – 1 stem,

Fresh coriander leaves – 4 tsp,

Salt as per taste,

Asafetida – a pinch,

Cooked tur dal/kandi pappu – ¼ cup,

Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp,

Whole red chili – 2 – broken into 2 each,

Oil for tempering,

METHOD:

Take 3 glasses of water in a bowl, soak tamarind in this water for 10 min, then squeeze it and remove the tamarind leaving the pulp in the water,

Now add chopped tomatoes and mix it well till the tomatoes are completely mixed into the tamarind pulp,

Now add crushed garlic, salt and black pepper and cumin powder to it,

Add cooked dal and coriander leaves and curry leaves to it and mix everything well with hand,

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds let it splutter now add broken red chili, asafetida and some curry leaves and curshed garlic and sauté it for a minute and pour the prepared rasam into it,

Slow down the flame and boil it till you find some bubbles over the rasam,

Take it into a bowl and serve it hot with white rice, or dump some medu vadas into it to have rasam vada, drop some idilies into it to make rasam idlies ,

This very special south Indian delicacy is a must in every south Indian meal and it’s a must in every household here, It’s a saying that inspite of having the royal cusines, south Indian kings prefer a gulp of rasam annam or rasam rice to digest the heavy meal and it remains the same till date in every household of south india.

This is very light and belly and easily digestable, In winter and rainy season it serves as medicine for coughs, cold and digestive problems, In south indian housel hold new born babies are first served rasam with well mashed boiled rice and ghee.