Rasam Powder - Version 2

Every family has its own unique spice blends and treasured recipes for them. Every South-Indian family has its own version of sambar and rasam powders. I previously recorded my in-law's rasam powder spice blend. In today's post, I am recording one of my grandmother's (and mother's) version of rasam powder. My grandmother's sister sent us a home-made batch of rasam powder, which we have been enjoying in our rasams and broths.

Here is the recipe.

Thippili Rasam / Long Pepper Rasam

Thipli or Thippili is a rare flowering vine called Long Pepper. The root of this plant is called Kanda Thipli and the dried fruit of the plant is called Arisi Thipli (shown in the pictures below). This plant is known for its medicinal properties and is used commonly in Ayurvedic medicine. Thippili is known to aid in digestion, stomach-ache, and in generating overall well-being. WebMD lists a lot more medicinal uses!

Therefore, Kanda Thippili Rasam is brewed at home when someone is feeling under the weather, or when a lot of unhealthy food has been consumed, or just to boost the nutrition of the meals. Both kanda thippili and arisi thippili are also essential ingredients in deepavali marundhu - a special concoction of medicinal ingredients that aid digestion, heartburn etc.

My mom brought some kanda thippili and arisi thippili from India and has been brewing this rasam every two weeks.

Although Thippili is medicinal, the rasam does not taste like medicine! Thippili has a unique flavor and aroma that makes the rasam tasty and unique.

Kanda Thippili and Arisi Thippli; And Frothy Rasam!

Milagu Jeera Rasam / Pepper & Cumin Rasam

Milagu Jeera Rasam is a broth to soothe cold, chills, sore throat, and every other crummy condition of the body and mind. The perfect antidote for those times when you are feeling under the weather and just want to curl up in bed. The last few days have been like that at home. These are those (many) times when I wish someone would magically enter the kitchen and make a steaming pot of comforting rasam for us. But, this rasam is so easy to prepare that it literally takes 20 minutes to prepare, and 15 minutes of it is just the rasam boiling away while you curl up.

This is another classic recipe that comes down from my great grandmother, grandmother, and now, my mother. It takes me back home.

This is an invigorating rasam that is meant to have some bite and spice, thanks to the pepper. Pepper and ghee are considered medicinal in Ayurveda. And cumin is great for the tummy. This is an all- round Indian counterpart of Chicken Soup.

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

1. 2 teaspoons black peppercorns
2. 1 teaspoon jeera / cumin seeds
3. 1 teaspoon dhania / coriander seeds
4. 6 + 3 curry leaves
5. 1 teaspoon toor dal / tuvaram paruppu / yellow lentils
6. 1 dry red chilli
7. 1 inch ball of tamarind soaked in 1.25 cups hot water for 20 minutes
8. 1/4 teaspoon hing / asafoetida
9. 2 teaspoons ghee / clarified butter
10. 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
11. salt as needed

Preparation:

1. Extract tamarind juice from the softened pulp and add it to a sauce pan. Discard pulp, but add all the water. Add salt and hing and boil on medium heat for 10 minutes until the tamarind doesn't smell raw. 
2. Grind together - peppercorns, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, 6 curry leaves, yellow lentils and red chilli to a coarse powder. Mix the powder with a little water so that it's easier to mix with the tamarind broth. Add this to the tamarind broth and mix well.
3. Add 1.25 cups of water and boil on low-medium heat for 5 minutes until rasam is frothy around the edges. Remove from heat
4. Heat ghee and season it with mustard seeds. Wait for the mustard seeds to crackle. Add remaining curry leaves and add the seasoning to the rasam and stir well. 

Serve with hot rice for a comforting meal.

Vepampoo Rasam

Vepampoo is dried neem flower. Like neem leaves, neem flowers are great anti-bacterial agents. They help fix a rumbling, unhappy tummy and detoxify the body. Well, all things that are great for your body come with a sneaky caveat. Vempampoo is extremely bitter. So one can't just chomp on them. They need to be handled with some spice and flavor so that the bitterness is toned down. Vempampoo rasam (or broth) is a good dish that balances the bitterness with some subtle spices. Another way to use vepampoo is to simply fry them in ghee (clarified butter) until they are golden and mix with rice for a flavorful (albeit slightly bitter) rice. The bitterness goes well with vepampoo's inherent flavor.

This rasam recipe comes down from my great grandmother, who was a great cook and a wonderful human being. Here's honoring her, and thinking of her...

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

1. 1 inch ball of tamarind, soaked in 1 cup hot water for 15-20 minutes
2. 3 dry red chillies
3. 2 teaspoons toor dal / tuvaram paruppu / yellow lentils
4. 1/4 teaspoon hing / asafoetida
5. 1/2 tablespoon ghee / clarified butter (use ghee and only ghee)
6. 1/4 heaped cup of dried neem flower / vepampoo
7. 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
8. pinch of turmeric powder
9. 1/2 teaspoon of salt or as needed
10. a few curry leaves

Preparation:

1. Extract the juice from the tamarind until the pulp has no "juice" remaining. Discard pulp.
2. In a skillet, melt ghee. When hot, splutter mustard seeds. Then add curry leaves, and dried neem flower and fry on low-medium heat until the neem flowers are golden. Remove and set aside.
3. Add dry red chillies, toor dal,  and extracted tamarind juice to a sauce pan. Add salt, turmeric powder, 1/2 cup water and hing and boil on medium heat for 10-15 minutes until the tamarind doesn't smell raw. 
4. Add 1/2 cup of water, reduce the heat to low and simmer until the broth is frothy and bubbly around the edges. 
5. Now, remove from heat and add the roasted neem flowers and mix well. 

Serve with rice for a comforting and healthy meal. This is an extremely simple rasam with deceptively simple ingredients.

Lemon Rasam

Lemon Rasam is a variation of lentil soup without the need for adding tamarind to make it tangy. I find it less time consuming because I don't have to worry about soaking tamarind, extracting the pulp etc. Even one less step seems to be a time saver on weeknights. 

Since we love lemony, citrusy flavors, I am always keen on making sure the lemon flavor comes through. Some lemon rasams don't have any hint of lemon in them because the juice just imparts its tartness and disappears amid the other spices. The lemons in the U.S are notoriously low in flavor (especially their juice) when compared to the brightly flavored smaller ones we get in India. So, I add some lemon zest to the rasam to amplify its flavor. So depending on your lemons, either add/avoid the lemon zest and adjust the amount of juice that you finally add.

This is a bright and refreshing rasam.

Ingredients:

1. 1/4 cup raw toor dhal / yellow lentils / tuvaram paruppu, cooked until mushy
2. 2 small-medium tomatoes, chopped
3. 2.5 cups water
4. 2 teaspoons grated/crushed ginger
5. 1 green chilly, crushed
6. 2 teaspoons rasam powder
7. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
8. 1 teaspoon salt, or as needed
9. 1 teaspoon brown sugar / jaggery
10. 1 teaspoon ghee / clarified butter
11. 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
12. 1/2 teaspoon jeera / cumin seeds
13. 1/4 teaspoon hing / asafoetida
14. handful fresh coriander leaves / cilantro, chopped
15. 3-4 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on how tart the juice is)
16. 1 teaspoon lemon zest (just the yellow portion) / or a few slices of lemon (optional, but recommended to infuse more lemon flavor)

Preparation:

1. In a medium saucepan, bring to boil - water, tomatoes, crushed ginger, green chilly, rasam powder, turmeric powder, salt and lemon zest (if adding). Boil for 10 minutes or so on medium heat until the tomatoes are cooked and the spices don't smell raw
2. Add the cooked dhal/lentils to the rasam and stir well. Continue to cook the rasam on low-medium heat for 10 minutes until the corners of the rasam bubble and froth slightly. 
3. Remove from heat, add lemon juice and stir well. Mix in the brown sugar or jaggery. Taste and adjust seasonings - salt and/or lemon juice. If it tastes too tart, add a little more brown sugar.
4. Heat some ghee in a pan. When hot, splutter mustard seeds, add jeera/cumin seeds and hing. Mix for a few seconds and add it to the rasam. 
5. Garnish with cilantro. If you are adding lemon slices, add them now and take them out within 20-30 minutes. The lemon slices infuse more flavor to the rasam, but the white pith in the rind quickly turns the rasam bitter, so remember to remove them soon.

Serve with warm rice. 

Mysore Rasam

Rasam (spiced tomato-lentil soup) is a staple in South India. Every state, and almost every household has its own variation of rasam. This version of Rasam is popular in the state of Karnataka. Having tasted the authentic rasam from friends (and restaurants) in Karnataka, I have to say that this recipe is more of an adaptation of the actual Mysore Rasam, but it's very close to the original, extremely flavorful, and is different from the usual tomato rasam. My mother-in-law prepared this delicious rasam using a grand-aunt's treasured recipe. So, here's the recipe for Mysore Rasam as adapted by a talented Tamil chef!

Ingredients:

1. 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
2. 3 teaspoons coriander seeds (dhania seeds)
3. 2.5 teaspoons kadala paruppu / bengal gram dhal
4. 2-3 dry red chillies
5. ¼ teaspoon hing / asafoetida
6. ½ + 1 teaspoon jeera / cumin seeds
7. 1+1 teaspoon ghee (clarified butter)
8. 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
9. 1 tomato, chopped
10. 1 inch ball of tamarind (a small lime sized)
11. 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
12. handful of cilantro / coriander leaves
13. ¾ cup cooked toor dhal / yellow lentils / tuvaram paruppu
14. 1 - 2 tablespoons shredded coconut (optional)
15. 1 tablespoon jaggery / brown sugar

Preparation:

1. Cook toor dhal until soft and almost mushy. The mushier the better for rasam.
2. Soak the tamarind in hot water for 15 minutes. Then, extract the juice by squeezing the  soft pulp. Strain the juice. Repeat the process with lukewarm water and squeeze out more juice until the tamarind is dry. Throw the tamarind residue and reserve the extract/juice.
3. In 1 teaspoon of ghee, roast the peppercorns, coriander seeds, bengal gram dhal, chillies, hing, coconut (optional) and 1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds. Add the cumin seeds in the end because it roasts much faster than the other ingredients. Roast everything on medium heat for 5-10 minutes or until the bengal gram dhal begins to change color and all the spices release their aroma. 
4. When cool, grind the above to a coarse powder. If the powder is fine, it will clump up and thicken the rasam. 
5. In a medium sauce-pan, add the tomato, tamarind extract, turmeric, and salt. Bring to a boil on medium or medium-high heat. Add some water (about 1/2 - 1 cup) during the boiling phase if you think there isn't enough liquid. Mysore rasam is traditionally slightly sweet. So, add some jaggery or brown sugar during this phase of boiling. Let the mixture boil for 20 minutes or until there is no raw tamarind smell and the tomatoes are cooked. 
6. At this stage, add the ground spices, stir well, and let it boil for 5 minutes on medium heat. 
7. Then, add the cooked dhal and mix well. Reduce the heat to low and let the rasam simmer until it begins to bubble gently around the corners. Remove from heat. Do not over boil rasam.
8. For seasoning, heat some ghee in a small pan. Splutter mustard seeds, add hing, and cumin seeds and roast for a few seconds. Add this seasoning to the rasam. Finally garnish with chopped cilantro/coriander leaves. 

Serve hot with rice! I suspect Mysore/Karnataka rasams to have some cinnamon and/or cloves and some fenugreek seeds in the spice mixture. I might be wrong, but I'm thinking of experimenting with these spices the next time. If you have inside-knowledge of what goes into the spice powder, I would love it if you could share it with me! I would greatly appreciate it.

Paruppu Urundai Rasam

Just a few days back I posted a recipe for paruppu urundai mor kuzhambu (steamed lentil dumplings in spiced yogurt gravy). I forgot to mention that the paruppu urundais (lentil dumplings) can be dunked into pretty much any kind of (South-Indian) gravy/sauce. The dumplings can be added to rasam, sambar, kuzhambu etc. 

I remember my grandmother making her classic rasam with paruppu urundais. And since it's a classic and favorite dish amongst my clan, here is a special post for it.

 

 Prepare the paruppu urundais, according to this method:

Ingredients (for 6-8 urundais)

1. 1/2 cup thoor dhal / thuvaram paruppu
2. 3 dried red chillies
3. 1/4 teaspoon hing
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt or more

Preparation

1. Wash the thoor dhal and soak it in water for 2 - 2.5 hours. 
2. Rinse the dhal well and grind it with red chillies, hing, and salt, with just a couple of sprinklings of water (about 1 -2 tablespoons of water or slightly more if absolutely necessary). 
3. Coarsely grind the dhal (as much as possible) so that you can form small chunks of balls/ irregular shaped dumplings with your hand. 
4. Steam the lentil dumplings for about 15 minutes on high heat in greased idli plates (greased with sesame oil) or a vegetable steamer until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean and dry.
5. Slightly cool the dumplings before adding to the gravy

Now, prepare tomato rasam with lentils/thoor dhal. This is my (grandmother's) recipe for tomato rasam with lentils. Add the paruppu urundais after step 5 in the recipe (after the tamarind boils with the spices until there is no raw tamarind smell). After the dumplings are added, boil for an additional 5-10 minutes on low-medium heat, and then add the cooked, mashed thoor dhal and follow the rest of the rasam recipe.

This rasam tastes really really good! The dumplings take in the rich spices and taste lovely when mashed with rice.

Mor Rasam

Mor Rasam is a variation of Mor Kuzhambu with slightly milder spices. It is also a tangy and flavorful side-dish when had with rice. 

Ingredients (serves 4):

1. Black mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
2. Mor Milagai - 5  (this is a special kind of chilly that is spiced and marinated in yogurt for a day, and then dried in the sun). If you don't have this kind of spiced chilly, substitute with dried red chillies (about 3) or green chillies (about 2)
3. Thoor dhal / thuvaram paruppu - 1 teaspoon
4. Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
5. Dried oregano seeds / omam - 2 teaspoons
6. Hing / asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
7. Buttermilk / diluted yogurt - 3 cups
8. Salt - 1 teaspoon
9. Turmeric - 1/2 teaspoon
10. Rice flour - 2 teaspoons
11. Vegetable oil / Olive oil - 1 tablespoon

Preparation:

1.  Heat the oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds on medium heat. Then add the red chillies/mor milagai, Thoor dhal, fenugreek seeds, oregano seeds, and hing until the the dhal and fenugreek seeds begin to roast. 
2. Add the roasted spices, salt and turmeric to the buttermilk. Dilute the rice powder with a tablespoon of water and add it to the buttermilk as well. Whisk well. 
3.  Bring the whole thing to a boil on medium heat. 
4. When it comes to a boil, remove from heat. Do not over heat. 

Serve with rice and papad.

Rasam powder

I have been taking my stash of spice-mixes for granted. And then, one fine day, when I was scraping at the bottom of the rasam-powder-bottle, I nonchalantly walked over to the fridge and opened the freezer to retrieve a nicely packed  bag of home-made rasam-powder. Except this time, my hands groped at nothing... no more bags labeled "rasam powder" showed itself. Horror of horrors! I had actually run out of home-made rasam powder! But before I let myself panic, I just called my resourceful mother-in-law and noted down the recipe to make some rasam-powder at home. 

And here is the actual recipe!

Ingredients:

1. Coriander seeds / Dhania - 250 grams
2. Dried red chillies -  100 grams
3. Cumin seeds / jeera - 50 grams
4. Black pepper corns - 50 grams
5. Bengal gram dhal / Kadala paruppu - 50 grams
6. Turmeric - 50 grams

Dry roast each spice separately until they roast a little and emit their essential oils and flavors. Grind, mix, and store in an airtight container!

This makes a big bottle of rasam-powder. Just to approximate, I equated 50 grams to 1/4 cup.

Some families don't really use separate spice-mixes for sambar and rasam. One versatile powder is used for sambar, rasam, and other dishes that take curry powder. But, I think the addition of cumin and pepper in rasam powder makes a delicious difference in the way your rasam turns out. 

Pineapple Rasam

A spicy, soupy Indian dish made from a fruit? That too, a pineapple? It starts off sounding odd, but I just need to bring to attention the surprisingly lovely taste of a cheesy pizza topped with pineapple and jalapeno. Who would have ever thought that pineapples could be eaten on top of bread, tomato sauce, herbs, and cheese? And sweet and tart next to hot and spicy? As ludicrous as it sounds, we all know that the marriage between sweet, tart, and spicy is beautiful and unique.

So why not Pineapple rasam? It is actually prepared during very special occasions such as weddings, but it rarely features as an everyday dish. I think we should remedy this, for this is one tasty rasam that shouldn’t be relegated to just a few days a year.

The process is pretty much the same as preparing Tomato Rasam. Since pineapples are even more tarter than tomatoes, the quantity of tamarind used is decreased, and no jaggery/brown sugar is added. I also added an extra spoon of coriander powder, because I wanted to turn up the spice level a notch so that the sweetness of the pineapple shines through better. Everything else remains the same. But I’m copy-pasting and updating the recipe on this page to minimize one extra click.

Ingredients:

1. ½ cup of cooked, mashed Thoor Dhal (cooked lentils)
2. Half a lime-sized ball of tamarind (approximately ½ - 3/4 inch in diameter)
3. ¾ - 1 cup of diced pineapple (the quantity depends on how tart the fruit is and how much you would like to add; If it’s too tart, reduce the tamarind even more)
4. Two teaspoons of Rasam powder (Ah, that is another post by itself; The powder is a finely ground mixture of dry roasted red chillies, turmeric, coriander seeds, thoor dhal, and channa dhal; variations abound; but these days they are available aplenty in stores - MTR and Shakthi Masala are tried and tested brands)
5. One teaspoon of coriander powder
6. A teaspoon of turmeric
7. A teaspoon or two of salt
8. A teaspoon of ghee (or vegetable oil)
9. A teaspoon of mustard seeds
10. 1/4 teaspoon of Hing
11. A few curry leaves, and coriander leaves (cilantro) for garnish

Preparation:

1. Boil the tamarind ball with enough water to cover it (in the microwave, heat for 2 minutes). Let it cool/seep. When the tamarind is warm enough to be touched, squeeze the pulp to get the extract, and add the extract into a vessel (a medium sauce-pan). Dilute the pulp again with lukewarm water and extract as much “juice” as possible. Discard the pulp.
2. Add the pineapples to the tamarind extract and add 2 cups of water.
3. Add salt, turmeric, rasam powder, coriander powder and turn on the heat.
4. Heat the tangy liquid on medium-heat till the raw taste of tamarind is mellowed and the pineapples are cooked. (Rule of thumb - this step usually takes about 20-25 mins.)
5. Mash the cooked thoor dhal and add it to the Rasam. Continue heating/boiling on low-medium heat for about 5 minutes.
6. Wait till the raw taste of dhal is gone, and the rasam froths and bubbles (as my grandmother adorably says - “wait for multicolored bubbles to come around the edges of the rasam”). Note: do not over-boil the rasam at this stage. Turn off the heat.
7. Heat some ghee (highly recommended), or vegetable oil in a small pan. When hot, add mustard seeds, and let it splutter. Then add curry leaves and Hing powder.
8. Add this seasoning to the Rasam and watch its lovely sizzle. In addition, throw in some washed and cut coriander leaves (cilantro).

This rasam is tangy, sweet, and spicy. The pineapples become sweeter and they taste so good after absorbing all the tamarind and spices. 

This is a good rasam to turn to when the regular tomato becomes a bit redundant.

Garlic Rasam

The Garlic suffers from a prejudice that my family (actually my entire community) holds - or, used to hold against it. The aversion is mostly because of its unfortunate pungent smell. But, having come to know of its wonderful medicinal properties, my ancestors seemed to have relented their prejudices at some point, albeit only a tiny bit. Garlic rasam is one such a rare exception - I don’t think there’s any other dish in my community that has garlic as the star ingredient (or an ingredient at all). This warm soup is prepared by cooking garlic cloves in a spicy tamarind juice. It is especially prepared on days when people are nursing a cold or a minor ailment.

I can count the few number of times when my mother prepared garlic rasam. But, it has been featured in the kitchen, nonetheless. So, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

1. 6-7 cloves of garlic (was that a sharp intake of breath I heard?)
2. a small lime-sized ball of tamarind (approximately 1 inch in diameter)
3. 2-3 dry red chillies
4. ¾ teaspoon of black pepper-corns
5. 2 teaspoons of coriander seeds
6. 1 teaspoon of bengal gram dhal / kadala paruppu
7. 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
8. 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
9. few curry leaves
10. ¼ teaspoon of asafoetida
11. 1 teaspoon of ghee
12. 2 teaspoons of oil (olive oil / vegetable oil)
13. 1 teaspoon of salt
14. ½ teaspoon of rasam powder (optional)

Preparation:

1. Extract tamarind juice. Soak the tamarind in hot water for 10 minutes. Squish and squeeze out all the juices. Drain the pulp. Repeat the process for a second time with lukewarm water. Drain the pulp and discard. Add 2-3 cups of water to the extracted tamarind juice.
2. Slightly crush the garlic cloves (I do this, because I believe all the lovely juices come out and infuse better), and fry them for a couple of minutes in a teaspoon of oil. Do not let the garlic brown.
3. Add the slightly fried garlic cloves, salt, and a little bit of rasam powder into the tamarind juice (plus water) and boil on medium heat.
4. As the above heats, roast pepper-corns, coriander seeds, red chillies, and bengal gram dhal in a teaspoon of oil. Roast till the spices release their aroma and the bengal gram dhal begins to turn slightly brown. Do not burn or over-roast. Grind this to a paste with a spoon or two of water. Add this paste to the the garlic+tamarind mix that is heating. And continue to boil.
5. Dry roast the cumin seeds and a few curry leaves (2-3) for a couple of minutes. Grind this to a powder.
6. When the raw scent of tamarind leaves the boiling rasam and the garlic is cooked, add the above cumin powder to the rasam and continue to heat on low-medium heat until the rasam begins to bubble around the edges. Remove rasam from heat.
7. Splutter mustard seeds in a teaspoon of ghee. Add some asafoetida to it and add it to the prepared rasam.

Garlic rasam is ready to be served. It is had as a spicy soup or is mixed with steamed rice. This is also supposed to relieve digestive issues, thanks to the garlic, cumin, and pepper. Cooked garlic doesn’t taste or smell as pungent, so rest assured of that doubt. Seasoned cooks believe garlic tastes sweet when it is roasted or cooked for a long time. I haven’t really tasted the sweetness, but I like cooked/boiled garlic. Obviously, it is a frowned-upon eccentricity of mine that my family chooses to ignore.

Tomato/ Paruppu Rasam

Tomato rasam/paruppu rasam is a staple in all Tamil homes. It is the ultimate comfort food for us people. When one is feeling under the weather, nothing peps one more than a cup of warm rasam poured over fluffy rice and mixed with a spoon of mashed, cooked thoor dhal. For extra oomph, drizzle a spoon of ghee, and every part of your body and mind unwinds. The aroma of ghee and hing evokes pleasant nostalgia and transports me back home. The combination of mashed dhal, ghee, and rasam mixed with rice is the first introduction of our cuisine to toddlers (after the cerelac, cereal stage, of course). The spicy, tangy rasam seals the taste-buds of our little ones. From then on, our palate and our body resolutely associates this humble dish with sweet memories. It becomes the ideal of loving, homey, comfort food.

Rasam rice and curd rice were my staple food as a kid. I loved my grandmother’s rasam and would eagerly drink a cup of it, although it was a tad too spicy for my kiddy tongue. The taste of her rasam continues to linger on my tongue, and it’s my quest to try and recreate the exact taste. I have come close, but can never replicate her signature taste. So, my Rasam recipe is very close to my grandmothers’, which is very close to my great-grandmothers’, which is very close to Meenakshi ammals’. I am aware that every family has its own subtle variations of making Rasam. The family’s trademark or legacy, so to speak, lies in their Rasam recipe! 

Ingredients:

1. 1/2  cup of cooked, mashed Thoor Dhal (cooked lentils) (some families don't add any dhal, or add very little dhal to rasam).
2. A small lime-sized ball of tamarind (approximately 1 inch in diameter)
3. 1 tomato (depending on the size of the tomatoes and the level of tangy-ness you prefer) diced
4. 1 tablespoon of Rasam powder (Ah, that is another post by itself; The powder is a finely ground mixture of dry roasted red chillies, turmeric, coriander seeds, thoor dhal, and channa dhal; variations abound; but these days they are available aplenty in stores - MTR and Shakthi Masala are tried and tested brands)
5. A teaspoon of turmeric
6. A teaspoon or two of salt
7. A teaspoon of ghee (or vegetable oil)
8. A teaspoon of mustard seeds
9. 1/4 teaspoon of Hing
10. A few curry leaves, and coriander leaves (cilantro) for garnish
11. A piece of jaggery (about a 1 inch block)

Preparation:

1. Boil the tamarind ball with enough water to cover it (in the microwave, heat for 2 minutes). Let it cool/seep. When the tamarind is warm enough to be touched, squeeze the pulp to get the extract, and add the extract to a vessel (a medium sauce-pan). Dilute the pulp about 2-3 times with lukewarm water and extract as much “juice” as possible.
2. Add the diced tomatoes to the tamarind extract, and add 2 cups of water.
3. Add salt, turmeric, rasam powder, and turn on the heat.
4. My grandmom’s signature touch - add a piece of jaggery (pebble sized) to the mixture. The sweetness of the jaggery takes the edge off the intense tartness of the tamarind + tomatoes. I usually go overboard and add about two pieces of jaggery. Both Anand and I love the resulting sweety-tanginess. The sweetness is hardly perceptible, but the nuanced tongue can catch a hint of it. Meenakshi-ammal’s recipe doesn’t have this step.
5. Heat the tangy liquid on medium-heat till the raw taste of tamarind is mellowed and the tomatoes are cooked. (Rule of thumb - this step usually takes about 20-25 mins)
6. Mash the cooked thoor dhal and add it to the Rasam. Continue heating/boiling on medium-heat.
7. Wait till the raw taste of dhal is gone, and the rasam froths and bubbles (as my grandmother adorably says - “wait for multicolored bubbles to come around the edges of the rasam”). Note: do not over-boil the rasam at this stage. Turn off the heat.
8. Heat some ghee (highly recommended), or vegetable oil in a small pan. When hot, add mustard seeds, and let it splutter. Then add curry leaves and Hing powder.
9. Add this seasoning to the Rasam and watch its lovely sizzle. In addition, throw in some washed and cut coriander leaves (cilantro).
10. Aren’t you hungry yet? ;)
    
    

    

    Can you spot the bubbles and the froth?

Lessons learned:

When I was a kid, I never liked curry leaves and cilantro getting caught in my teeth as I was relishing the rasam rice. They were distracting and annoying. My cousins and I used to make fun of our grandmother’s heavy-handed use of cilantro, commenting - “Oh, somewhere a tree has died in the making of this rasam.” Evil people that we were, we didn’t realize that it was precisely these leaves that added the quintessential rasam flavor. When I started cooking, I made it a point to not add curry leaves or cilantro, sometimes even Hing, and I ended up with an unsatisfying taste. It took me a year to realize, “Aha!”, these tiny elements are so significant. From then on, I never ever scrimp on cilantro. I am as heavy-handed, if not more, than my grandmother.

Interestingly enough, I have come to love cilantro when I earlier choked on it. None of my Indian dishes are without an ample sprinkling of it. Recently, I heard one of my culinary gurus, Ina Garten, scoff at cilantro and remark, “It tastes like laundry detergent to me”. I felt punched in the gut. What?! How could you, Ina?! But upon further reflection (involving intense sniffing and nibbling of cilantro), I had to agree with her. It does have a detergent-like note to it if nibbled raw. But something happens when it mixes and wilts in boiling, warm rasams, sambars, curries or gravies. It imparts an aromatic, unique flavor to the dishes. So please don’t avoid adding cilantro or curry leaves. They do make a huge difference, and I assure you, your dish will not taste like detergent! And you can always remove the offending leaves from the dishes before eating! 

Adaptations:

Since I am hungry and greedy for flavors, I add a teaspoon of cumin (jeera) powder, and another teaspoon of coriander powder to my rasam (during step 3 of preparation). Sometimes, I also add a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. In addition, I season some cumin seeds along with mustard seeds, and I ALWAYS use ghee to fry the seasoning (step 8 of preparation). The resulting Rasam is a mix of two kinds of rasams - tomato rasam + milagu rasam. Milagu rasam (pepper rasam) is a slightly different version of tomato rasam, which again, deserves another post by itself.

Rasam is usually ladled over cooked rice and eaten with a serving of cooked/stir-fried vegetables, or with papad/vadam/chips. The grown-up version does not involve any more ghee or mashed pappu (dhal), regretfully, but you are allowed to indulge on days when you are ill, or when you deserve some extra love ;).