Basic rasam

Here is a basic rasam recipe for everyday cooking. 

Ingredients:

Tamarind - Amla size (key lime size)

tomato - 1
Turmeric powder - a pinch
water - 3 cups
sesame oil - 2 tbsp
curry leaf - 1 sprig
mustard (kaduku)- 1/2 tsp
fenugreek (venthayam) - 1/4 tsp
asafoetida (hing) - a pinch
garlic - 1 whole (small)
cumin - 1 tsp
whole black pepper - 1 tbsp
salt - to taste

Directions:

Microwave tamarind + 3/4 cup water for 1 minute. Let cool. 
Extract juice from tamarind by adding 1 cup water each time and repeat thrice or till water runs almost clear.  
Add chopped tomato. (or add 2 tbsp pureed tomato).
Add turmeric powder, salt. Keep aside.

Peel garlic. Grind the garlic, pepper, curry leaf, hing and cumin coarsely without water.

Heat oil in a wok.
Add the fenugreek and mustard . After the mustard gets splutter , put the garlic pepper mixture.

Saute few seconds (30 seconds).

Now pour the tamarind extract and let it boil till the raw smell vanishes. Add chopped cilantro (optional).
Then switch off the flame  

Serving suggestions:
Makes 500 ml of clear rasam.
Let the rasam settle down first and just serve the top layer of rasam.
Serve over hot rice along with appalam or thogaiyal .
If preferred serve as a soup , but after meals.

Cooking time: 10 minutes.

Paruppu rasam

Paruppu rasam is one more post that has been in my draft for  a very long time. This is my family's favorite meal along with dal and a spicy fry like fish or potato fry. In my hometown it is a habit to serve piping hot rice with rasam along with fried fish for dinner and they would call it as 'simple'... ha ha... but that sounds like feast to me :) 

Enjoy !

Paruppu rasam, rice and fish fry ...one of my most favorites :)

Paruppu rasam

Ingredients:
Thuvaram paruppu (Toor dal) - 1/2 cup (cooked)
tomatoes - 2
Tamarind extract - 2 teaspoon. (from a gooseberry size ball of tamarind)
Red chillies - 2
black pepper - 1 teaspoon
cumin seed- 1/2 tsp
garlic - 3 pearls.
turmeric- a pinch
hing (asafoetida) - a pinch.
Fenugreek seeds (methi seeds) - 1/4 tsp
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
curry leaves - 1 sprig
chopped coriander leaves - few
water - 2 cups
jaggery - very small piece (1 tsp, if crushed)
salt - 1 tsp
oil (ghee)- 1 tbsp.

Method: 
I usually reserve some cooked toor dal, while making sambar to prepare this rasam.
Otherwise cook 2 tbsp toor dal in a pressure cooker to 3 whistles. Mash and keep it aside along with the cooked water.

Add hot water to the tamarind and extract the juice. Keep it aside.

Chop the tomatoes finely.

Coarsely grind the pepper, garlic and cumin seeds. Mix turmeric and asafoetida with it and keep aside.

In a pan add little oil/ ghee and put mustard seeds , methi seeds. After hearing the crackling sound of mustard seeds, add red chillies and curry leaves. Immediately add the ground mixture to the pan and fry for 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and stir it till the tomato gets cooked completely.
 Add the tamarind extract and the jaggery. Add 2 cups of water , bring to a boil.
Then add the cooked, mashed dal + dal water.
Let it boil vigorously for 2 minutes.
After switching off the flame , add salt and chopped coriander leaves. Always keep the lid closed after adding salt to retain the flavor of rasam.
Paruppu rasam is ready!

Serving suggestions: 
My usual combo is preparing this paruppu rasam along with ketti paruppu (dal tadka), some spicy fry as side dish along with rice.
Or simply serve as dinner with hot rice and paruppu thogayal.

Pineapple Rasam

There is a popular belief that , 'We can check any person's cooking skill with the taste of the rasam they make'. Because even though the rasam may seem a very easy item to make, it needs a lot of care and patience.
One can master the art of preparing an authentic rasam by keeping the following in mind.
1. Don't boil the rasam after adding salt. Put off flame on seeing the bubbles / froth.
2. Don't use black or old tamarind.
3. Use freshly ground rasam powder and fresh ingredients to get a more healthy rasam.

A rasam made with pineapple will definitely sound classic to any Rasam fan.
Like all the rasams , pineapple rasam also helps in digestion. Some nutrients present in the pineapple is believed to reduce the body fat to some extent.
So here is a super healthy rasam made with all the freshness of pineapple.



Ingredients:
Tamarind - a strawberry size
pineapple - 1 cup (chopped)
cooked toor dhal - 3 tbsp
water - 3 cups
turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
fenugreek seed - 1/4 tsp
Dry red chilly - 2 (torn into pieces)
curry leaves - 1 sprig
cilantro - 1 tbsp (chopped)
salt - to taste
oil /ghee - 1 tsp
garlic - 4 pearls

To roast and grind:
Coriander seed - 1 tbsp
Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp
Black peppercorn - 1 tsp
Dry red chilly - 1


Method:
Step 1.
Grind the tomato with 3/4 cup of pineapple coarsely.
Soak tamarind in hot water , filter and extract juice using 2 cups of water.
Take a vessel and add the tamarind extract,Turmeric powder, mashed dhal, mashed tomato + pineapple in it.
Start heating the vessel.
Roast the items given and grind along with fresh garlic pods.
Add this rasam powder also to the above vessel and bring it to a boil.
Switch off flame once it comes to a boil.
Now add salt to taste.
Step 2:
Heat oil / ghee in a pan.
Add mustard seeds , fenugreek seeds and allow them to splutter .
Add some asafoetida (hing), cilantro, red chillies and curry leaves.
Run the seasoning over the hot rasam.
Step 3:
Finely chop the rest of the pineapple and sprinkle over the rasam.
Close the vessel tightly to retain the flavor.

Pineapple rasam is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with plain steamed rice or simply in cups to drink.
Having a cup of rasam after lunch or dinner is highly recommended for good health.

Pachai Puli thanneer Rasam

Here comes another interesting rasam 'Pachai puli thanneer' rasam that means raw tamarind extract rasam . To make this rasam we won't need a stove.
May be this rasam could be a very old cuisine prepared by the travelers in India.
The other name of this rasam is 'vandikkaaran rasam', that means the rasam prepared by the bullock cart drivers:)
In those days , before the invention of motor vehicles, people were traveling in bullock carts from place to place. Some times they may take even a month to reach their destination. So they would take rest once in a week in a nearby city and would stock up some grocery items and food. The restaurants were rare to commons and the annachathiram (free meal place) would be scanty. So, in the mean time they would have prepared Puliyotharai, lemon rice, curd rice etc for the first three days and for the next coming period they need to cook , at least for two days.
The only way to sustain the travel was to cook the rice with the available wood and to fix up some easy side dish like rasam and thovaiyal (hand ground chutney). Thus comes the invention of this raw tamarind rasam.
May be we also find it very easy to fix a delicious simple dinner, if running late. Good for the summer too:)
I remember those days when my elder brother and myself voraciously consuming the rice without any hesitation with our mom's puli thanneer rasam:)



Ingredients:
Tamarind - size of a small key-lime
Shallot onion - 10
(or 1 red onion)
green chilly - 2
cumin seed - 1 tsp
curry leaf - 1 brig
water - 3 cups
salt - to taste

Method:
Extract the juice of tamarind by soaking it in water.
Finely chop the onion, green chilly, curry leaf and mix it with the tamarind water.
Add cumin seeds and salt.
Let them soak for an hour or we can use it immediately also.
Pachai puli rasam is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Pour over piping hot fully cooked rice along with any thogaiyal , vadagam or appalam as sides.

Note:
Prepare more quantity of rice than the usual amount and you will find the reason after tasting this rasam:)

Mysore Rasam

Happy Earth day!
Earth day has nothing to do with the Rasam but the greeting is to keep us more focused on our environment:)

Rasam (Tamil) can be called a comfort food for many. Rasam is a South Indian soup eaten taken with rice or alone.
I love to prepare / have rasam along with 'thalli' meal (full spread of Indian dinner). Moreover a generous serving of fresh Rasam on hot mushy cooked rice with 'paruppu thovaiyal' means a heavenly food for me.
Generally the rasam served with an elaborate dinner / lunch helps in digestion. Also the quality of the rasam can testify the nativity and passion of the cook as there are many ways to make a rasam.
Mysore Rasam occupies a top rank among all the rasams. It is always termed as the 'rich rasam' because of its ingredients. It differs from the other varieties by the addition of coconut and a lot of lentils. Mostly Mysore Rasam would be served during festive times or feasts .
The special tag 'Mysore' adds a kick to the foods like, Mysore Bonda, Mysore masal dosai, Mysore Bah , Mysore Rasam etc:) .
Whenever I hear the word Mysore, the things flash in my mind are my mom's favorite green color Mysore silk saree, the Brindavanam, her Mysore sandol soap and her tall tales on her passion / collection of the Mysore silk sarees:)
Here goes the authentic way to make the rich 'Mysore Rasam'.

Other names: Tamil - Rasam/ Kannada - Saaru / Telugu - Chaaru /Malayalam - Rasam / Tulu - Resa .



Ingredients:
Thoor dhal - 4 Tbsp
Tomato - 2
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaf - 1 brig
Tamarind - a small lemon size
Mustard - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
oil / ghee - 2 tsp.
asafoetida - a pinch
Rasam Powder:
Thoor dhal - 1 tbsp
methi seed /fenugreek - 1/4 tsp
Dry red chilly - 2
Coriander seed - 4 tsp
Black pepper - 2 tsp
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
To dry roast and grind:
Shredded coconut -1/4 cup

Method:

Cook the thoor dhal with Turmeric powder.

Heat 1 tsp oil in a wok and roast 1 tbsp Thoor dhal, dry red chilly ,methi seed (venthayam), coriander seeds, Pepper and cumin till the dhal becomes red.
Let it cool and powder it.

Dry roast the shredded coconut to mild red color and powder it . Take one tsp of powder and keep it separate to garnish the rasam.

Extract juice from tamarind. Add 2 cups of water and let it come to a boil along with cooked dhal.

Heat 1 tsp oil in a wok. Add the mustard and little cumin seeds. After the mustard gets crackle add the curry leaf and chopped tomato (chopped lengthwise) and fry a little (not completely mushy).

Then add the boiling tamarind extract , prepared rasam powder, powdered coconut to it the fried tomato and mix well.
Add more water to make it thin like soup.

Start heating it. As soon as the rasam forms froth in the top switch off the stove. Do not allow it to boil , as it will give a bitter taste to the rasam.

After switching off , add the salt and sprinkle a tsp of powdered coconut that was kept reserved.
Mysore Rasam is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Makes 1 liter of rasam.
Serve on plain cooked rice after the guest finishes with the sambar /More kulambu / vatral kulambu or serve in a tumbler for drinking.

Tomato Rasam.

Ingredients
Ripe tomatoes - 2
Tamarind extract - 2 teaspoon.
(from a gooseberry size ball of tamarind)
Red chillies - 2
black pepper - 1 teaspoon
cumin seed- 1/2 tsp
garlic - 3 pearls.
turmeric- a pinch
asafoetida - a pinch.
Fenugreek seeds (methi seeds) - 1/4 tsp
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
curry leaves - 1 brig
chopped coriander leaves - 1 tsp
water - 2 cups
jaggery - very small piece (1 tsp, if crushed)
salt - 1 tsp
oil (ghee)- 1 tbsp.

Method:
Add hot water to the tamarind and extract the juice. Keep it aside.
Chop the tomatoes finely.
coarsely grind the pepper, garlic and cumin seeds. Mix turmeric and asafoetida with it and keep aside.
In a pan add little oil/ ghee and put mustard seeds , methi seeds.
After hearing the crackling sound of mustard seeds add red chillies and curry leaves.
Immediately add the ground mixture to the pan and fry for 30 seconds.
Add tomatoes and stir it till the tomato gets half cooked.
Add the tamarind extract and the jaggery.
Add 2 cups of water
Switch off the flame as you see white bubbles or some froth gathering above.
Do not allow the Rasam to boil.
After switching off the flame , add salt and chopped coriander leaves.
Serving suggestions:
Makes 1/2 litre of Tomato Rasam.
Serve hot with rice after Sambar rice.
It can be served like clear soup after filtering (after dinner). It helps in digestion.

Note:
We can totally avoid that tamarind part , instead add juice from 1/4 lemon after switching off the flame.