Cook With Love:Rasam

Rasam is a traditional south Indian dish, pretty easy to cook in a very short time. It is known as soup in the Western and the ingredients in rasam are very strong due to the spices, unlike soup with mild flavours. Rasam is best consumed with rice or generally preferred upon completion of a meal, either sipped directly or mixed with rice. Rasam has medicinal properties such as boost immunity, clears cold , improves digestion and many others. It is spicy with some tangy taste due to tamarind and tomatoes. There are various types of rasam, from simple to complex but the consistency is more or less the same.

Serving 4-5 pax

Ingredients:
1 lemon sized tamarind paste, dissolved in 3 cups of water and remove the seeds
10 garlic cloves
4x4 cm ginger
1 big onion, sliced
1 tomato cubed
2 tbsp sesame oil
10 curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp fennel
1 tsp urad dhal
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp asafoetida
salt per taste

To roast:
5 dry chillies
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp fennel
3 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin
3 cardamon pieces
2 cloves cardamon

Steps:

1. Roast the dry ingredients for 2-3 minutes in the low medium.
2. Crush the ginger and garlic to add in the tamarind water. Add the turmeric and tomatoes in the tamarind water too.
3. Boil the tamarind water in a medium flame for about 5 minutes or till small bubble pop up, do not overboil.
4. Add in the roasted ingredients.
5. In a separate pan, heat the mustard oil and cook onion, mustard, fennel, urad dhal and curry leaves for few seconds.
6. Immediately pour the contents no 5 into the boiling tamarind mixture.
7. Add some salt as per taste.
8. Finally, add the asafoetida once off the flame and close the pan with lids immediately.
9. Best served about an hour later with white rice.

Tips:

• The dry ingredients are best if crushed with mortar or pestle after roasted.
• The spiciness can be modified by adjusting dry chillies and black pepper.
• Tomatoes best squeezed roughly by hand while adding in the tamarind water.
• Avoid overboil the rasam as it may affect the taste.
• Rasam is the type of heaty food so avoid taking frequently, especially during summer.
• Taste amazing with white rice or as a wholesome drink.
• Rasam is more delicious if taken on the next day of preparation.

Serve happiness to your loved one with delicious and healthy meals!