Tangy, hot and fiery South Indian Soup/Rasam
The secret of a good Rasam lies in good quality ghee and rasam powder. Store bought rasam powder cannot match the robust flavours found in homemade spice blends. When the seasoning is poured into the boiling pot during the final stages of its preparation, a delightful hissing sound is produced. Enjoy rasam as a drink or relish with hot rice and a dollop of ghee with some crisp hot happalams or papads.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup /(80 ml)/60 gm Toor/Arhar Dal
1 tsp ghee or vegetable oil
¼ tsp turmeric powder
¼ tsp asafetida/hing
4 cups water
1 tomato
1 tbsp tamarind + ½ cup water to prepare the tamarind
1 tbsp Rasam powder
1 tsp cumin seed powder
½ tsp red chilli powder/cayenne powder
Gratings of fresh pepper
10 to 12 curry leaves
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
2 ¾ tsp salt
Seasoning:
2 tsp Ghee or Vegetable oil
1 ½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp Asafetida/hing
Method:
Cook the dal with 1 tsp ghee, ¼ tsp turmeric and ¼ tsp asafetida with 1 cup water in a pressure cooker. Wash tamarind in many changes of water until clean, and bring to a boil with ½ cup water.
To the cooked dal, add the strained tamarind mixture, Rasam powder, red chilli powder, pepper, curry leaves and 1 chopped tomato and bring to a boil. Put in 3 cups of water, chopped coriander, salt and boil again.
In a small pot, heat the ghee or oil, put in the mustard seeds and when they splutter, stir in the hing. Pour in the seasoning to the boiling rasam, moving a few steps behind while doing so and switch off the flame. Serve hot as a drink or with plain boiled rice and a dollop of ghee.
