Lemon Rasam

One of the much sought after Rasam in our home is Lemon Rasam. This rasam may be relished with hot Rice and roasted papad or each sip may be enjoyed like a soup! With winter very much in, this rasam is always relished with a bright smile to lighten up the dark days!

Ingredients:

Cooked Toor dal- 2 cups

Chopped Green chillies- 2

Chopped Ginger- 1 inch peice

Curry leaves - Few

Coriander leaves- Few sprigs

Turmeric powder- A pinch

Salt to taste

Ghee- 2 tsp

Urad dal- 1 tsp

Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

Red chilly- 1 (Broken into pieces)

Jeera/Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp

Hing/Asafoetida- A pinch

Lemon- 1

Method:

Take the cooked dal in a vessel and add Green chillies, Ginger, Curry leaves, Coriander leaves, Turmeric powder and salt. Mix well and bring it to a nice boil. In a small pan, heat ghee. Add Urad dal, Mustard seeds, Red chilly pieces and Jeera. Once the mustard has stopped spluttering, add Hing and pour this tempering to the Rasam. Finally, Before, serving, squeeze a lemon and enjoy!

Note- You may crush some garlic and add to the tempering. Thats a differet experience altogether!

Preparation Time: 30 Minutes

Serves: 4 people

Tomato Rasam/ Thakkali Rasam

I wanted to post this since a very long time. A colleague of 'N' had asked for this recipe and he has promised to become our blog's follower if I post this recipe :).

Rasam is one of the tasty yet simple dishes which I am sure everyone loves. It is one of the staple diets of South India.
This goes to Innovative In-Laws "Garnish the Dish" event.



Ingredients:Toor dal - 1/2 cup
Ripe tomato - 1 medium sized
Tamarind - 1 lemon sized
Green chilli - 1-2
Rasam powder (recipe coming soon) - 2 tsp
Grated coconut - 2-3 tsp
Salt
Hing - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Coriander/ Cilantro leaves - a small bunch
Curry leaves - 5-6



Garnish:
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 5-6

Method:
Pressure cook dal with little turmeric, mash well.
Soak tamarind in little water and extract the juice.
Add chopped tomato, curry leaves and some water and boil this till tomato is cooked.
Add the mashed dal and salt. Depending on the consistency you want add more water.
Then add green chilli and let it simmer for some time. The green chilli imparts its flavour to the rasam, giving a nice aroma.
In a seasoning wok, add little ghee and fry the rasam powder for 2-3 sec till you get an aroma. Add hing to this and fry once. Add this to the rasam and let it boil for 1 min.
Now remove from heat and add grated coconut.
In a seasoning wok add the remaining ghee. When its hot add mustard and when it splutter add cumin seeds and then curry leaves. Pour this to the rasam.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice.

Preparation Time: 30 mins
Serves: 2 people

Jeera-Milagu rasam

Rasam contributes to the basic South Indian Meals. It is prepared with different variations making it taste completely different every time.

Tomato Rasam is one of the most famous form of Rasam. It will be served in all the South Indian Functions and Marriages. Jeera-Milagu rasam made from cumin seeds and Pepper is considered to be medicinal and is usually consumed by people suffering from cold and fever. And of course Pineapple rasam for all those of you who love the fruit.These are some variations of the rasam (there are many more ...).

Rasam is healthy and a great digestive aid. Rasam's main ingredients are tomato and tamarind or lemon juice. It is typically served over white rice, but you could drink it as a soup.

Here is the recipe for Jeera-milagu rasam.

Ingredients:
Toor dal/red gram - 1/2 cup
Chopped tomatoes - 1 medium sized
Lemon - 1/2 piece
Coriander leaves - a small bunch
Curry leaves - 3 to 4
Salt
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

To grind:
Pepper - 3/4 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp



Seasoning:
Curry leaves - 4
Clarified butter/ ghee - 2 tbsp
Mustard - 2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Asafoetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp



Method:
Heat a small pan and fry the pepper and cumin seeds till you get a aroma from them. Grind them to a fine powder and keep it aside.
Cook the toor dal and mash it.
Cook the chopped tomatoes adding curry leaves, salt, turmeric powder and enough water. When the tomatoes are cooked, add the mashed dal and the pepper/cumin powder and let it boil for 4-5 mins.
Add lemon juice and adjust salt. Remove from heat
In a seasoning wok/pan add ghee.
When it is hot add mustard seeds. When mustard splutters, add cumin seeds.
Then add hing and curry leaves.
Pour this seasoning to the rasam.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Serve with rice or drink it as a soup.

Preparation Time: About 20 mins
Serves: 2 people

Pineapple Rasam

Today I was tired to cook. Since I am very fussy about food, going out is not a good option :) I would prefer home cooked south indian meal. During my weekely call to my mom, she mentioned about 'Arachuvitta rasam' which is slightly different from our normal rasam. She also added that we can use pineapple instead of tomato for this rasam. I gave it a try as it is fairly simple and it turned out to be good.

Normaly at home amma (mom) prepares rasam in a Eeya Chombu as it imparts a characteristic flavor to the rasam. Eeyam means lead and eeya chombu means lead vessel. But there is no lead involved in the making of this vessel. It is primarily an alloy of tin and other metals. Care should be taken that the liquid in the vessel should not evaporate. If the vessel is kept on the naked flame without liquid then it will melt. Ofcourse I dont have a 'eeya chombu'. I should be satisfied with my steel vessel.

Here is the recipe hope you all will like it.

Ingredients:
Tamarind - Small lime sized
Coriander leaves - a small bunch
Curry leaves - 6 to 7
Pineapple cube or chopped tomato - 1/2 cup
Mashed toor dal/red gram - 6 to 7 tbsp
Jaggery - small piece
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Clarified butter/ ghee - 2 tbsp
Mustard - 2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp

Masala (To grind):
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
Black pepper - 1/2 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Red chillies - 2
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Green chillies - 1 to 2
Ginger - 1" piece
Garlic (optional) - 1 clove

Method:
Extract tamarind juice after soaking the tamarind in 1/2 cup water.
Grind the masala ingredients to a fine paste by adding little water.
Take the tamarind extract in a vessel and to this add the chopped pineapple (or tomato), jaggery, salt and pinch of turmeric.
Let it cook for sometime. Then add the mashed toor dal (red gram) and continue cooking over medium heat for 2 to 3 mins.
Then add the paste. Add more water do bring to the desired consistency. Let this boil for 2-3 min.
In a seperate pan, heat ghee. Add the mustard, when it splutters add the cumin seed and then the curry leaves. Add this to the rasam. Garnish the rasam with chopped coriander leaves.
Serve hot with rice and pappadam.

Preparation time: About 15 min
Serves: 2 people