With its concoction of spices, tamarind and tur dal, rasam is a cold weather favorite, tastes heavenly as well as warms the body and the taste buds. I always look forward to drinking rasam even though I prepare it almost every other day, well, at least 4 days a week. To me, its the best part of the meal. Yes, you read right. My meal would be incomplete without rasam. Even more so, today, since we had a cold, breezy and rainy morning. The aroma of ghee tempered spices is enticing to say the least and as it sizzles its way into the boiling spiced broth, it gives a totally different flavor dimension to the rasam. Fresh coriander leaves improve and enhance the flavor. This rasam powder recipe should last a month, if you prepare rasam at least 2-3 times a week. Ensure you use fresh spices since the key to a good rasam is in its fresh spices. How to make rasam powder 1 Dry roast all the dal till red, remove and keep aside. Next roast coriander seeds for 4 mts and remove. Add the remaining ingredients, except asafoetida and curry leaves and dry roast for 3-4 mts on low to medium flame. Remove and cool. Roast the curry leaves till they wilt and turn crisp, don’t burn it. Remove and cool. Grind all the roasted and cooled ingredients along with asafoetida to a coarse powder. Store in an air tight container. Preparation: 215 mts Serves 4-5 persons Cuisine: South Indian . 10 dry red chillis 1/4 cup coriander seeds 1 tbsp cumin seeds 1 tsp fenugreek seeds 1 tsp mustard seeds 1 tbsp pepper corns 1/2 tsp asofoetida few curry leaves 1 In a pressure cooker, place a cup of tur dal, turmeric pwd, pinch of hing and 1 cup of water and pressure cook upto 3 whistles. If cooking over stove top, cook till the dal is soft. Mash dal and keep aside. 2 Heat a deep vessel, add 3 cups of water, mashed dal, chopped tomatoes, tamarind extract, salt, turmeric pwd, few fresh curry leaves, pinch of jaggery and rasam pwd and bring to a boil. Continue to boil for 2-3 mts. 3 Heat oil in a pan, add mustards seeds and as they splutter, add red chillis and curry leaves and stir fry for a few seconds. Add asafoetida and turn off heat. 4 Add this to the rasam and combine. Turn off heat and place lid. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with white rice and appadams. Preparation: 25-30 mts Serves 4-5 persons Cuisine: South Indian . 1 large tomato, chop into small pieces big pinch turmeric pwd 2 tsps rasam pwd tamarind, small lemon size, extract juice in half a cup of water 3/4 tsp jaggery (optional) few fresh curry leaves salt to taste 3 cups water For seasoning/poppu/tadka: 1/2 tsp mustard seeds pinch of asafoetida/hing/inguva 1 dry red chilli, de-seed and tear few fresh curry leaves 1-2 tsps ghee
