Kottu Rasam / Gramathu Araithuvitta Rasam - A True Soul Food!

Country Style Tamarind Rasam:

Other Names: Puli Rasam, Thaalikaadha Rasam.

I wondered why many people from villages / small towns kept longing for their country style rasam - a comfort food! And what would be the possible big difference in a simple recipe? Why would they call it unique? The answer lies in the fresh tamarind, plucked from the trees during season, stone-ground spices, very simple down to earth procedure...yet a winning combo' with parboiled rice and after a hard physical work' it sure makes sense...why it made its way to heart! However, I tried to imitate the same style here, it rather turned out best' to my extend!! And, I suppose...it always associated with memories that makes it, even better:)

Ingredients:

Fresh Tamarind Pulp - lemon sized
Dry red chilies 5 - crushed
Garlic 7-10 crushed
Curry leaves few
Salt
Turmeric 1 pinch
Asafoetida
Peppercorns 1 spoon
Cumin seeds 1 spoon

Tempering:

Absolutely forbidden:)

Method:

Grind peppercorns and cumin seeds together, set aside.

Semi-crush the garlic and red chilies, set aside

Tear the curry leaves, if fresh. I used dried one, here:(

Fresh tamarind pods will be good, however pulp should work too. Soak the pulp in water and extract the liquid.

Now mix all the ingredients and bring it to boil, just once and immidiately remove from heat. Do not cover it with lid for atleast few minutes.

No tempering required ( I was told so) anyway, its up to you!

And no garnish with cilantro too...it changes the flavor/authenticity:)

Serve warm with steamed par-boiled rice, preferably.

Fresh Green Peppercorn's Soup / Pacha Milagu Rasam

Pacha Milagu Puli Rasam:

Ingredients:

Thick tamarind paste 1-2 spoons(diluted with enough water)
Fresh green peppercorns 2 springs
Garlic with skin 8-10 cloves -semi crushed
Dry red chilies 5-8 torn into flakes
Curry leaves few
Rasam powder 1-2 spoons
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Salt
Mustard seeds 1 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/2 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Oil few spoons.

Method:

Heat oil in a vessel, add tempering spices, followed by crushed peppercorns, garlic, chili flakes etc. Add enough salt, turmeric and rasam powder to the same.

Further add tamarind water, continue heating over medium to high heat. Once it comes to boil, remove from heat.

Serve to go with plain steamed rice., that's comforting..right!

Tamarind Rasam - Counter Top

Pacha Puli Pulusu:

Counter-top Rasam. Tangy Tamarind Rasam, Imli ka Ras. Hot-Sour cold Soup!:)Plain Rasam. Thaalikaadha Rasam/Kodhi-vidaadha Rasam...ha ha what else can I name it!! Okay my friend, Kranti corrected me just now...it is called as 'Pachi Pulusu' in Telugu!!:)

When I was in Andhra Pradesh(Hyderabad)...my culinary expedition took different dimension! I got introduced to both fabulous Iranian recipes plus traditional Androidal foods!:) Isn't that exciting! I shared the house both with Iranian family(for 2 years) and a Hindu family(for 2 years). This really brought some change in my cooking style too.

This 'pacha puli pulusu' is more or less like Tamil Nadu rasam! But they don't cook it over a stove top...yeah they fix it on the counter top!! As anyone could guess...typical Andhra touch comes from their unique Guntur chilies!! They also add some aggressive amount of Purple onions to go on the top! Though onions are strong...as they sit for a while...all infused with tamarind and chili flavours...no worries, its going to be okay! This should be eaten with rice/pongal. But my friends prefer to even drink this(Kranti, Themnu & Saradha)!!

They used to make this at my hostel quite often! The cook Pushpa...is really good at it. I like her preparations anyway. Its hostel, right...but even tho' with minimum resources, she used to make fabulous meals! Initially, I had lots of inhibitions to have anything that is not cooked, that looks fiery hot...later when I tried, I felt comfortable. Now I am kind of addicted to those chilies, as well!

Ingredients:

Tamarind pulp - 1 lemon size
Garlic small 7-9 along with skin
Purple onions(I used white here)
Strong fiery hot dry chilies 6-7
Peppercorns 1 spoon
Cumin 1 spoon
Asafoetida 1 pinch
Fresh curry leaves 2-4 twigs(I used dried ones here)
Rock salt
Turmeric 1 pinch

Method:

Soak tamarind pulp for about 1-2 hours. Once they loosen up, make them mushy...using hands. Then extract juice out of them. Retain the juice, discard the pulp now.

Coarsely hand pound cumin and peppercorns.

Chop scallions/purple onions.

Flake the chilies using hands. Tear the curry leaves as well.

Crush garlic along with skin.

Now toss everything together in the tamarind juice. Allow them to sit for a while before serving.

Tomato Coconut Rasam

Thakkali Thengai Rasam:

Arathu Vitta Rasam. Tomato Rasam, Tomato-Coconut Rasam.

Busy, Rainy day menu! Arathu vitta Rasam and Spicy fried food! Nothing much to talk about it....simple entry!

Ingredients:

Country Tomatoes 5
Garlic 1 whole head
Dry chilies 6
Peppercorns 1/2 spoon
Cumin /2 spoon
Curry leaves few
Salt
Turmeric 1/4 spoon
Coconut grated 6-10 spoons
Mustard 1/4 spoon
Cumin 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves few
Cilantro few leaves
Oil few spoons.

Method:

Grind first 6 ingredients together.

In a pan, heat oil. Add these wet-ground puree to it. Add salt and turmeric powders. Fry real good! When the raw smell leaves the pan....add 4 cups of water.

Bring them to boil. Then add grated coconut. Remove from heat.

In a seperate pan, heat oil. Add mustard, cumin, asafoetida, curry leaves....wait till they pop up. Now run this tatka over the rasam prepared!

Enjoy with steam cooked rice!

Rasam Idly

Rasam Idly:

This is my friend Balaji's favourite dish. When we were studying in Hyderabad. Soon after the class....myself and Balaji used to have brunch at this small cafeteria. Our usuals would be pessarattu, vadai and irania chai. So....we never bothered to try anything new. One fine day.....we happen to stop at this place at a very unusual time, late in the evenning! Maybe they did it on purpose/simply threw all the left overs into this dish....god only knows! But Balaji started liking it. If I remember it correct...the guy had kind of cold that day...and was happy to see pepper rich rasam and his comforting food idly. This later became...kind of addiction to that dork and started to visit that place in the evennings as well! Strange!!!

Though its not my cup of tea....I guess....some people may find it interesting! To keep it interesting....prepare a fresh batch of Tangy rasama nd fresh idlies!!!

Ingredients:

Tamarind Rasam(freshly prepared, a pot full)
Warm, soft Idlies(6-8)
Cilantro leaves.

Method:

So nothing much to talk about this recipe. Make a crock pot full of pepper-cumin rich Tamarind based rasam and sink in 4-6 warm idlis in it. Let that really sit for a while before serving. Microwave just before serving and garnish with cilantro leaves.

Orange Rasam

Orange Lemon Soup:

Orange-Lemon Rasam. Orange-Neembakai Saaru.

Lemons and Oranges are rich in Vitamin-C. Most of vitamins lie only close to the skin and on the skin. The lethery rind(jacket)is also loaded with essential oils! Since some of the vitamins are oil soluble and to make use of those essential oils....its good to cook them for a while than eating raw! Cooking makes certain vitamins available to the body!

Ingredients:

Orange 1 fruit(washed & sliced)
Lemon juice 1 cup
Salt enough
Dry red chilies 6 broken
Peppercorns 4
Cumin seeds 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves crushed few
Mustard seeds 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1 pinch
Turmeric 1 pinch
Oil few spoons.

Method:

Heat oil....in a wok. Add mustard, asafoetida, chilies, curry leaves, pepper and cumin seeds. Wait till they pop.

Add salt and turmeric.....plus lemon juice, orange slices and 4 cups of water.

Bring this to boil and remove from heat. Garnish with cilanto leaves.

Take them as soup! It may no tbe good enough with rice...like any other rasam! Its safe to drink as soup!

Drumstick Greens Rasam

Murungai Keerai Rasam:

Ingredients:

Moringa Greens 1 cup
Dry red chilies 5
Garlic 1 whole head with skin crushed
Tamarind water 1 cup
Tomatoes 1(optional)
Salt
Turmric powder 1/4 spoon
Rasam powder 1 spoon
Mustard seeds 1/4 spoon
Peppercorns 1/4 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves few
Oil few spoons.

Method:

Heat oil. Add mustard, pepper, cumin, asafoetida, red chilies, garlic and curry leaves to it. Wait till they splutter up.

Add salt, turmeric and rasam powder. Further add tamarind water, moringa greens and tomatoes as well.

Bring this to boil...just once! Remove from heat.

Serve warm to go with plain steamed rice.

Drumstick Stem Rasam

Murungai Eerkku Rasam:(Country Style)

Leg pain, Joints ache.....simple home-remedy could be this rasam!

Ingredients:

Moringha stems 4-6 thin/thick ones gently tapped
Dry red chilies 5
Garlic 1 whole head with skin crushed
Tamarind water 1 cup
Tomatoes 1(optional)
Salt
Turmric powder 1/4 spoon
Rasam powder 1 spoon
Mustard seeds 1/4 spoon
Peppercorns 1/4 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves few
Oil few spoons.

Method:

Heat oil. Add mustard, pepper, cumin, asafoetida, red chilies, garlic and curry leaves to it. Wait till they splutter up.

Add salt, turmeric and rasam powder. Further add tamarind water, moringha stems and toamtoes as well.

Bring this to boil...just once! Remove from heat.

Serve warm to go with plain steamed rice.

Nellikkai Rasam:

Goose Berry Rasam. Amla Rasam. Nellikai Rasam.

Botanical name of this tree is Emblica officinalis

I always try to fix some new rasam....since 'rasam' is the comfort food for most of the non-vegetarians like me! Anything that is tangy...I try to make rasam out of it. Well....don't get surprised if I fix strawberry/ raspberry rasam in future!

Always I liked Amla(Nellikkai)! For it unique taste and loads of vitamin C'.

Ingredients:Ingredients:

Indian Goose berries(large ones) 3-6
Garlic 2 whole heads - peeled and semi crushed
Dry red chilies 6-8
Curry leaves few
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Whole peppercorns 1/4 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Mustard seeds 1/2 spoon
Freshly ground - pepper powder 1 spoon
Freshly ground cumin powder 1 spoon
Sesame oil few spoons.

Method:

Washa nd clena the whole berries. Now slice their flesh alone. Remove the seed and discard. Blend them to fine puree using very limited water.

Now filter them to have rich berry juice. Set aside.

In a deep iron wok, heat few spoons of oil. Add garlic and dry red chilies.

Then add berry juicee. Add salt, turmeric and rasam powder(pepper+cumin powders) to it. Bring this to boil just once. Remove from heat quickly. Too much of boiling will deplete the vitamins!

Meanwhile....heat a small iron pan. Add oil and wait till its smoky hot. Now add mustard, cumin, whole pepper, asafoetida and curry leaves. Let it pop and splutter well.

Now run this sesonning over the rasam made.

Serve steaming hot along with plain steam cooked rice.

Kozhi Rasam:

I think Chettinad People make nice 'Kozhi Rasam'....but I never came across their recipe. Here is my own version...it tured out great to me. I know...its sounds weird, non-veg rasam! Chicken in tamarind water may be unpalatable for some of you! Its a rainy day dish for me...when I get bored with soups and stew....rasam is my comfort food! It does tastes better...give a try!

Ingredients:

Chicken (skin-on, bone-in) 1/4 kilo
Tamarind (gooseberry size)
Garlic 1 whole head - peeled and semi crushed
Dry red chilies 6-8 broken
Curry leaves few
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Whole peppercorns 1/4 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Mustard seeds 1/2 spoon
Freshly ground - pepper powder 1 spoon
Freshly ground cumin powder 1 spoon
Sesame oil few spoons.

Method:

Soak tamarind pulp in warm water for 20 minutes. Then using your hands...mash it and extract thick milk. Add 2-4 cups of water to this and set aside.

In a deep iron wok, heat few spoons of oil. Add garlic and dry red chilies.

Add washed and cleaned chicken, saute for few minutes. Add 1 cup of water and cook the meat till tender.

Then add tamarind water. Add salt, turmeric and rasam powder(pepper+cumin powders) to it. Bring this to boil.

Meanwhile....heat a small iron pan. Add oil and wait till its smoky hot. Now add mustard, cumin, whole pepper, asafoetida and curry leaves. Let it pop and splutter well.

Now run this seasoning over the rasam.

Serve steaming hot along with plain steam cooked rice. Good choice during rainy days.

Paruppu Thanni Rasam:

Paruppu Rasam. Dal Rasam.

Ingredients:

Thoor dal 1 fistful
Tamarind paste 1 spoon
Tomato 1 large diced
Coriander leaves few
Garlic with skin 8-10 cloves
Dry red chilies 5
Rasam powder 1-2 spoons
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Salt
Mustard seeds 1/2 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/2 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves few
Oil few spoons.

Method:

In a pressure cooker, add thoor dal, salt, pinch of turmeric and few spoons of oil. Let the dal get cooked till soft and tender.

When it is done, don't throw the dal cooked water. Add tamarind paste to this and blend in a mixie till smooth.

Semi crush the garlic along with skin.

One can use dry chilies as such or make them into flakes.(making into flakes will give real heat to the stuff)

In a pan, heat few spoons of oil. Add mustard, cumin, asafoetida, curry leaves and dry chilies. Let them pop and splutter well.

Now add garlic and fry for a while. Add salt, turmeric and rasam powder. To this set up add the dal-tamarind water.

Add diced tomatoes and coriander leaves.

Bring them to one boil and remove from the stove. Garnish with cilantro leaves.

Serve hot with plain rice.

Horse Gram Tomato Rasam:

Kollu Thakkali Rasam.

Ingredients:

horse gram 1 cup
Tomatoes 4 chopped
Tomatoes 4 pureed
Garlic 10-15 crushed
Dry red chilies 6 flaked
Salt
Turmeric pwoder 1/4 spoon
Rasam powder(home made) 2 spoons
Mustard seeds 1/4 spoon
Whole pepper 1/4 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves 1 twig
Cilantro leaves to garnish few
Sesame oil few spoons.

Method:

Soak a day early, horse gram! Better soak with plenty of water. Always place in fridge...never on counter, to avoid fermentation.

Now next day...use sedimentation method and seive away carefully the horse gram.(the sand and stones settles down). Try not to throw away the soaked water.

In a pressure cooker, cook horse gram, with limited salt in it. Maybe 3-6 whistles could do!

Now in a wok, heat oil. Add mustard, cumin, pepper, asafoetida, curry leaves and chilies to it.

Let his pop well and then add garlic, salt, turmeric and rasam powder.

Add cooked horse gram along with its water. Add tomato puree and chunks as well.

Bring this to boil and remove from heat.

Garnish with cilantro leaves.

Nandu Rasam:

Crab Rasam. Kekra-Imili Ki Shorba.

Crab the Power source for Calcium, A great source of vitamin B12 and immunity-boosting zinc! I use something tangy to leach away that calcium into my broth! Tamarind, lemon and tomatoes works well! I always insist upon 'shell crabs' over shell-less! Yeah for calcium and that great flavor! If you got to eat crab.....it should be little hard to fight with your cutting player and hammer!! I love it!!!

Ingredients:

Crab with Shells(preferably)
Tamarind (gooseberry size)
Garlic 1 whole head - peeled and semi crushed
Dry red chilies 6-8 broken
Curry leaves few
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Whole peppercorns 1/4 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Mustard seeds 1/2 spoon
Freshly ground - pepper powder 1 spoon
Freshly ground cumin powder 1 spoon
Sesame oil few spoons.

Method:

Soak tamarind pulp in warm water for 20 minutes. Then using your hands...mash it and extract thick milk. Add 2-4 cups of water to this and set aside.

In a deep iron wok, heat few spoons of oil. Add garlic and dry red chilies.

Add washed and cleaned crab, saute for few minutes.

Then add tamarind water. Add salt, turmeric and rasam powder(pepper+cumin powders) to it. Bring this to boil.

Meanwhile....heat a small iron pan. Add oil and wait till its smoky hot. Now add mustard, cumin, whole pepper, asafoetida and curry leaves. Let it pop and splutter well.

Now run this seasoning over the rasam.

Serve steaming hot along with plain steam cooked rice. Good choice during rainy days.

Rasa Vadai:

Myself and my friend Balaji used eat at this tiffen centre....when we were at Hyderabad. Most of the days after our class....we go there for either breakfast or tea. One fine day....after shopping we stopped there in the evenning. They had this amazing recipe called Rasa Idly. Wow....very spicy! You wouldnt beleive...very hot, pepper rasam and 2 large idlies were soaking wet in it. He said...its the best. Although I took a bite of it, I was very skeptical to try extra spicy food. And also I am not a big fan of idly! Oh...please don't scold me for being a Tamil Girl and saying Hate Idly. So I was wondering if I can alter the same recipe to my palate. So just like that I tossed my Vadai in Rasam....just for some sweetish taste, thought of having Pineapple rasam today! It turned out good! So go ahead...grab a fork!:)

Ingredients:

Pineapple/thoor dal rasam - 4 cups
Urad dal batter 1 cup
Ginger 2" chopped
Cocont 2" chopped
Whole peppercorns 1 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/4 spoon
Salt
Soda 1 pinch
Oil for deep frying
Cilantro leaves for garnishing.

Method:

To the urad dal batter, add all the ingredients said above(except oil, rasam and cilantro leaves.)

Now deep fry them in oil. Maybe of desired shapes. Small lime size ball will be okay.

When they are doen, leave over kitchen tissues for a while.

Now dip these vadas in warm water for quick few seconds, and immedietely leave them in rasam.

Let this sit for 1-2 hours.

Garnish with cilantro leaves. Serve at room temeprature.

Lime Rasam:

Kacha Neembu ka Ras. Lime Rinds Rasam.Ellimichankkai Rasam. Ellimichankkai Chaaru.

Ingredients:

Lime Juice 1 cup(diluted with one bowl of water)
Lime slices/cubed(optional)
Coriander leaves few
Garlic with skin 8-10 cloves
Dry red chilies 5
Rasam powder 1-2 spoons
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Salt
Mustard seeds 1/2 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/2 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves few
Oil few spoons.

Method:

Semi crush the garlic along with skin.

One can use dry chilies as such or make them into flakes.(making into flakes will give real heat to the stuff)

In a pan, heat few spoons of oil. Add mustard, cumin, asafoetida, curry leaves and dry chilies. Let them pop and splutter well.

Now add garlic and fry for a while.

Add salt, turmeric and rasam powder. To this set up add the diluted lime juice.

Add cubed limes and coriander leaves. Bring them to one boil and remove from heat.

Arachi Vitta Rasam:(Country Style)

Ingredients:

Tamarind (cricket ball size)
Garlic 1 whole head peeled & grated
Dry red chilies 6-8 grated
Curry leaves few grated
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Whole peppercorns 1 spoon semi crushed
Cumin seeds 1 spoon semi crushed
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Mustard seeds 1/2 spoon
Sesame oil few spoons.

Method:

Soak tamarind pulp in warm water for 20 minutes. Then using your hands...mash it and extract thick milk. Add 2-4 cups of water to this and set aside.

In a deep iron wok, heat few spoons of oil. Add grated garlic, curry leaves and dry red chilies.

Then add tamarind water. Add salt, turmeric and rasam powder( crushed pepper+cumin) to it. Bring this to boil.

Meanwhile....heat a small iron pan. Add oil and wait till its smoky hot. Now add mustard and asafoetida. Let it pop and splutter well.

Now run this sesonning over the rasam made.

Serve steaming hot along with palin steam cooked rice. Its best choice during rainy season.

Kottu Rasam

Garlic Rasam:

Kottu Rasam / Pottu Rasam (not sure). Thallikaatha Rasam (although i tempred mine today). Plain and Simple Puli Rasam. Tamarind Rasam. Puli Rasam. Poondu Rasam. Milagu-Chiraka Rasam. Milagu Rasam. Chiraka Rasam.

By now you would have noticed that I use lots of garlic in my recipe!!! Yeah....my fried Liz from Farmer's market was stunned to see that I buy so much of garlic each week.

Well...although high-temperature cooking destroys the garlic's most important cancer-fighting and immunity-boosting enzyme 'allinase'. So the best way of having them is in 'rasam' or 'Curry' form! Never fry them too long! Try to semi-crush and cook them for a brief period!

Ingredients:

Tamarind (cricket ball size)
Garlic 2 whole heads - peeled and semi crushed
Dry red chilies 6-8
Curry leaves few
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Whole peppercorns 1/4 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Mustard seeds 1/2 spoon
Freshly ground - pepper powder 1 spoon
Freshly ground cumin powder 1 spoon
Sesame oil few spoons.

Method:

Soak tamarind pulp in warm water for 20 minutes. Then using your hands...mash it and extract thick milk. Add 2-4 cups of water to this and set aside.

In a deep iron wok, heat few spoons of oil. Add garlic and dry red chilies.

Then add tamarind water. Add salt, turmeric and rasam powder(pepper+cumin powders) to it. Bring this to boil.

Meanwhile....heat a small iron pan. Add oil and wait till its smoky hot. Now add mustard, cumin, whole pepper, asafoetida and curry leaves. Let it pop and splutter well.

Now run this sesonning over the rasam made.

Serve steaming hot along with palin steam cooked rice. Its best choice during rainy season.

Injji Rasam:

Ginger Rasam. Indian Ginger Clear Soup. Allam Chaaru. Adhrak ka Ras.

Whole house was aromatic...when I prepared it!

Ingredients:

Ginger 5" size peeled and chopped
Thoor dal - cooked 1 small cup/thoor dal cooked water 1 cup
Country tomatoes 3 - chopped into chunks
Lemon juice from 3-4 fruits
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon

To be Toasted and Powdered:

Thoor dal 2 spoons
Pepper 1-2 spoons
Cumin seeds 2 spoons
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves few

For Sesonning:

Mustard seeds 1/2 spoon
Cumin seeds 1 spoon
Whole pepper 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Dry red chilies 3
Garlic with skin - semi crushed 8-10 cloves
Curry leaves few
Ghee or refined oil few spoons.

For Decoration:

Coriander leaves - 1 cup.

Method:

Peel the skin from ginger and grate or chop them. Then wet-grind it....to thin paste.

Now carefully extract 'ginger juice' from it. Set this extract aside. Throw the fibre off.

In a wok, heat ghee/oil. Add mustard and wait until they pop.

Followed by cumin, pepper, asafoetida, dry red chilies, curry leaves and garlic. Fry these real good. Till the garlic is fragrant.

Further add salt, turmeric and freshly prepared 'rasam powder' to this.

Now add thoor dal cooked water to this. (or add cooked thoor dal plus water, no big deal)

Add 3-4 cups of water. Bring this to boil.

And add lemon juice, ginger-extract and tomato chunks. Do not cover....let it come to boil. Then remove from the stove.

Tranfer this to display vessel & garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Feels good when served along with plain steam-cooked rice, during rainy days.

Whole Lemon Rasam / Lemon Rinds in Rasam

Whole Lemon Rasam:

Lemon Rind Rasam. Lemon with its Peel Rasam. Elimicham Pazham Rasam. Neembu Ka Rasam. Neembu Chaaru. Lemon Soup it is!!

I actually use whole lemon along with its leathery skin in making Rasam. That way...all the essential oils from its skin gets into the rasam. More over....I tasted such rasam once, at Naidu mess(Bells road, Chepauk-Chennai) So after started cooking, I had hard time...making it in the same way. As the rinds are fresh and tasted very bitter all the time. Although.....when I tasted in that mess.....they just tossed 1-2 rinds for decoration(unlike me). I was trying so hard....to fix this. As you know most of the vitamins lie only close to the skin and they are both water or fat soluble. So I liked to include those rinds in food so badly. Later Ak figured a perfect method. He asked me to continue boiling the rasam over low-medium heat for long time....until the rinds get softer! Hmmmmmm....its the key! As naturally soon after the first boil...we remove the regular rasam....here we need to make it to sit for few more minutes. It wasn't that bitter after all.

Ingredients:

Lemon 3-4(large)
Garlic 6-8 cloves crushed
Dry red chilies 6-8 slitted
Curry leaves few
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Rasam powder 1-2 spoons
Mustard seeds 1/2 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/2 spoon Asafoetida 1/2 spoon
Oil few spoons.

Method:

Chop lemon roughly into circles or better quarter them...as per your wish.

Heat a iron wok. Add oil....wait until its smoky hot. Then add mustard, cumin, asafoetida, dry chilies, curry leaves and garlic to it. Let it pop and splutter well.

Now add salt, turmeric powder and rasam powder to this. Fry for few minutes. Add 4-6 cups of water.

When the water starts to bubble at the sides....add lemon pieces. Let it boil really well. Its not like usual rasam....as soon as first boil removing from stove. The leathery skin of lemon should get cooked properly. It may take time!

When the lemon is fully done...remove and transfer to display bowl.

Serve warm along with plain steam cooked rice.

Vepampoo Rasam:(Tamizhar Style)

Neem Flower Rasam/ Neem Flower Chaaru/Saaru.

Botanical name of this tree is Azadirachta indica! The whole tree has lots and lots of medicinal value! It deserves seperate new post! Well to make it simple...this dry flower/ fresh for that reason is best to get rid of intestinal problems. Its vermifugal, kills worms in the intestines.

They prepare nice pachadi in Andhra for Ugadhi using fresh neem flowers! Will post that later!:)

Ingredients:

Dried neem flowers 2 spoons
Tamarind water 5 cups(lemon size tamarind soaked in water and blend, then filtered)
Garlic 6-10 cloves - with skin, semi crushed
Dry red chilies 5
Curry leaves 3-5 twigs
Rasam Powder 2 spoons(or use 1 spoon of pepper powder and 1 spoon of cumin powder)
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Mustard seeds 1/2 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/2 spoon
Ghee 1 spoon
Oil 2-4 spoons
Fresh neem flowers for garnishing 1 spoon(optional)

Method:

In a small pan, heat ghee. Fry dried neem flowers in it, till it turns deep brown to black color. It will be too aromatic. Fry them over low heat-medium heat. Set them aside.

In a deep Iron wok, heat oil. Add mustard and cumin seeds. Let them pop and splutter well.

Then add asafoetida, dry red chilies, crushed garlic and curry leaves to it. Fry them till fragrant.

Now add salt, turmeric, rasam powder and fried neem flowers to it. Followed by tamarind water.

Do not cover them....let it boil once or twice.

Garnish them with fresh neem flowers. Serve them hot with plain steam cooked rice.