My Website Recipes Corner

RASAMS

RASAM..RASAM...RASAM...RASAM...

No Meal in south India is complete without Rasam.
Rasam in its purest form consists of Tamarind extract boiled with Black pepper, Jeera and salt. As variations, many other spices are used.
With coming of chilies, pepper has mostly been replaced with chilies.
Rasam acts as digestive aid, increases acidic content of stomach juice, which in turn helps digestion.
Carminative property dilates sweat pores and facilitates body cooling as well as removing body toxins and excess salt.


APPLE RASAM

This is a Rasam, which you would not have tasted so far. This rasam is very good for people who have allergy for Tamarind and or Tomato or Kokum etc. This is prepared with raw green apples. Apples from New Zealand and Washington are excellent. Try this rasam and you would enjoy it to the core.

(To serve four people 2 servings)
Thoram parappu stock 500 ml Cooked Dhall 1/4 cup
Apple (Raw) 1 no. Rasam Powder 3 spoons
Chilli Powder 1/4 spoon Pepper powder (coarse) 1/4 spoon
Jeera Powder 1/2 spoon Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Kothumalli leaves 1/4 cup Curry Leaves 1 sprig
Salt to taste Sugar 1/2 spoon
Oil for tempering 1 tbsp Jeera 1/2 spoon
Mustard 1/4 spoon Asfoetida 1/2 spoon or 6 cloves of
Water 250 ml Garlic

Cook Dhall in pressure cooker with a lot of water. In the same cooker keep pieces of one raw apple after removing the seeds and outer peel. Mash the apple pulp and set aside.
Pluck Kothumalli leaves rough grind the kothumalli leaves and keep aside the paste.
Take the Dhall with water and churn till it froths, and add salt, also add jeera and turmeric powder, curry leaves and also add mashed Apple pulp and set it to boil on a medium flame. After four minutes, add rasam Powder , Chili powder and coarsely powdered Pepper and rough paste of Kothumalli. Let it boil for three minutes.
Take oil in a Tempering ladle and tamper the rasam with only mustard, jeeragam and asafoetida. Cover immediately after tampering. Use it 1 hour after preparing the rasam.
Taste of this rasam is very different from conventional rasams using Tamarind. Apple acids have a fine tongue tingling bite, which you would love. Use as an appetizer or as a rice accompaniment. (If you want, avoid Asafetida and use Garlic)

GOUNDER'S RASAM

Two spoons of Rasam podi (Podi recipe as given some time earlier by me)
Half cup of Thoor Dhall cooked and churned
One and half teaspoon of Jeera
One small spoon of Black pepper
Six to seven cloves of Garlic
One sprig of Curry leaves
One small ball of Tamarind. Soak and extract Juice
One medium sized Onion diced into very small pieces.
One medium sized Tomato diced in small pieces
Oil for tempering
Two red chillies and half a spoon of Jeera for tempering.
Half a cup of Kothumalli cilantro for garnishing
Salt to taste

Cook 3/4th of a cup of toor dhall and keep it aside. Make a paste of Jeera, Black pepper and Garlic and Curry leaves Add the juice of Tamarind and salt to taste to Dhall and set it to boil till raw smell of Tamarind goes off. First add Two spoons of Rasam powder and boil for a minute or two Now add the paste of Jerra etc to the dhall and let it boil on a medium flame for about five to six minutes. Add diced Tomato. Now tamper the Rasam with Jeera and Red chillies. Garnish the Rasam with Freshly cut kothumalli /cilantro and onion. Onion must not be sauted or cooked. Tomato pieces also must not be soft like Onion. Rasam should not be thin or watery but must be thick like Sambar. Enjoy.!!! With Rice, or appetizer. You may increase amount of pepper if you want hotter Rasam Some friends prefer tampering with Ghee. That is individual preference. This Rasam is a hot favorite with all my North Indian relatives.

TOMATO RASAM

Blanch or pressure-cook 250 gms of tomatoes along with one medium sized Onion and Six to eight pods of Garlic. When cold, put in a mixi and make a fine homogenous thick liquid. Pour enough water in the vessel for two to three people and add salt to taste, add 1/4 spoon of Turmeric powder, two spoons of Rasam powder, one spring of curry leaves and a pinch of Asafoetida. You may add a little sugar if you like. In case Tomatoes are of sweet variety, you may add little Tamarind paste to taste. One tablespoon of freshly made paste of Jeera, And two pods of Garlic with quarter spoon of Black pepper is to be added now.

Bring it to boil on a medium flame.

Temper with Jeera and a pinch of Asfoetida and one red chilli in oil or Ghee. Add finely chopped Coriander to taste. Usually a quarter cup of the chopped coriander will be perfect.

TOMATO RASAM IS READY!!!!

The above Rasam would be slightly Hot. If you want , you may reduce Rasam Powder usage to half the quantity. Some people use Toor dhall to make thick Tomato Rasam. You may use the same if you like.


KOTHUMALLI RASAM

This is a Rasam, which you would not have tasted so far. This rasam is very good for children and patients. Also it is good for nursing mothers and food buffs like me. This rasam is very good for people who are recovering from or suffering from long illness. It is easy to digest and induces hunger.

The best part is that this rasam uses both the leaves and stem of Kothumally plant. Try and tell me how you liked it.

Kothumalli 1 Bunch (200 gms)
Payar parappu (cooked) 1/4 cup
Rasam Powder 3 spoons
Jeera powder 1/2 spoon
Turmeric powder 1/4 spoon
Tamarind extract from Marble sized Tamarind
Oil for tempering 1 tbsp
Mustard 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon or 3 cloves of Garlic
Salt to taste
Jeera 1/2 spoon
Water 250 ml

Cook Dhall in pressure cooker with a lot of water. Pluck Kothumalli leaves and discard root part. Use only half cup of Kothumalli leaves and keep the rest for other use. Wash stem parts in water and prepare juice in a mixi after adding a cup of water. Using a filter, filter off fibers and keep only green stem water /juice in a cup. Set aside.

Rough grind the kothumalli leaves and keep aside the paste.

Take the Dhall with water and churn till it froths, add the extract of Tamarind and add salt also add jeera and turmeric powders, and set it to boil on a medium flame. When Tamarind loses raw smell, add rasam Powder and rough paste of Kothumalli. Let it boil for three minutes. Now add Juice of Kothumalli stem and just boil for one minute only. Set aside.
Take oil in a Tampering ladle and tamper the rasam with only mustard, jeeragam and asafoetida. No chillies are used except in Rasam powder.

Cover immediately after tempering. Use it 1 hour after preparing the rasam.


PEPPER-JEERA RASAM (Mulingatwany soup)

Rasam powder two spoons
1 spoon Jeera
Thoor Dhaal 1/4 cup
1 spoon black pepper
One tomato finely diced
Five to six cloves of garlic (optional)
Two sprigs of curry leaves
1/4 cup of Kothumalli/cilantro
1/2 spoon of Asafoetida
Sugar 1/2 spoon
One Lemon sized Tamarind ball soaked in water
Salt to taste
A pinch of Manja (turmeric) powder

Cook thoor dhall and keep it aside. Coarsely grind Black Pepper and Jeera keep it aside Add 400 ml. of water to Thoor dhall, churn fine and heat it in a vessel to boil. Add salt and a pinch of Manja (turmeric) powder along with extracted juice from Tamarind. Boil the above for six to seven minutes till raw smell of Tamarind goes off.

Now add coarse powder of Jeera and pepper along with Rasam powder as mentioned above. You may add Garlic at this stage if you want. Add curry leaves and Tomato now. Boil the Rasam on a medium flame for six to seven minutes. The water quantity would have reduced to about 350 ml. You may add a little Jaggery or sugar and enough salt to taste now.
Temper now with Jeera and two broken chillies along with a quarter spoon of Asafoetida. Add Kothumalli/cilantro last and cover the vessel immediately after tempering. Your Jeera/Pepper Rasam is Ready.

ALWAYS REMEMBER TO CRUSH GARLIC AND NOT SLICE IT.
Crushed Garlic has better aroma than sliced as, on application of pressure, the sulphurous compound of Garlic undergoes a quick chemical change and gives out better garlic smell.


SALSA RASAM

When I made Salsa Rasam, I was not sure if it is going to be accepted or liked.But when I had it, I knew that this was entirely different and probably first Mexican Rasam to see the light of the hearth. (LOL)
So without further Ado, I am posting the MAXINDIAN RECIPE # 2.

Cooked Thoram Parappu 1/2 cup
Salsa (Small pcs Variety But Med Hot) 4 to 5 Tbsp.
Tamarind juice 2 to 3 Tbsp.
Garlic 2 to 3 cloves
Red Chilli powder 1/4 spoon
Turmeric Powder a pinch (optional)
Pepper Powder 3/4 spoon
Curry leaves (crushed) 1 sprig
Jeera powder 3/4 spoon
Rasam Powder 1 spoon (optional)
Salt to taste
Sugar 1/4 spoon

Coarse powder
Jeera+Black pepper 1/4 spoon each

Tempering
Oil/Ghee 1 ladle
Jeera 3/4 spoon
Red chilli 1 no.
Mustard 1/4 spoon

Please follow all the directions as laid down by me in my Rasam preparation given in my other rasam recipes. (Gounder's Rasam, Pepper-Jeera Rasam, Tomato Rasam etc.)
Only difference is that you are going to add salsa last when you are done. Add salsa after tempering is over. Cover the vessel and leave it for about fifteen to twenty minutes.
Reheat and serve with steaming rice.
Go easy on eating.This Rasam is really spicy and Tasty.You should know when to stop.
Don't forget to post in your feedback all you "USAYERS".
I must add a note here for people who do not know what salsa is.
Salsa is a green salad consisting of diced Tomatoes, Green chillies, Onions and some salt and other spices and (God Knows What Not).
So try this recipe with these guidelines if you are out of USA, Canada and Mexico.

SHATHABHISHEKAM RASAM

Every journey in south India rewards me with something new. During my last visit, I happened to visit a small place which is famous for Nadi Joshiyam .

Vaidheeshwaran Koil is a small sleepy village which boasts of about 150 Nadi readers.We stayed at a hotel called Shathabhishekam which used to serve food only once during day time.

This is where I was served a beautiful thickish rasam. On exercising my tastebuds, I almost found out the recipe but this did not prevent me from asking the head cook as to how it was made.

Instead of the head cook, the recipe was discussed with me by the manager. He confirmed the ingredients as per what I had thought. But the method of preparation was totally different from what I had imagined. So here it is folks! The Shathabhishekam Rasam. I am sure that you would come to like this as much as the Gounder Rasam. The manager confirmed my observation that the cook was preparing mostly Chettinadu cuisine especially curries and rasams and kozumbus.

Thoram Parappu 75 gms Tomato 1 no.
Curry leaves 1 sprig Tamarind 1 Lemon sized
Garlic 8 to 10 cloves Ginger 1/4 " piece
Salt to taste

Powder the following
Black pepper 1 spoon + 1/4 spoon (raw) Jeera seeds 1spoon + 1/4 spoon (raw)
Dhania seeds 2 pinches Anise seeds (sombu) 3/4 spoon+ 1/4 spoon (raw)
Red Chillies 4 to 5 nos Fenugreek 1 spoon
Curry leaves 1 sprig Oil for frying and tempering. 4 spoons

Tempering & garnishing
Mustard seeds 1/2 spoon Jeera 1/2 spoon
Red Chillies 1 or 2 nos. Oil
Kothumalli 1/4 cup

Pressure cook Thoram parappu and set aside. extract thick juice from Tamarind and set aside. Pluck Kothumalli leaves .

Dice Tomato, very roughly crush Ginger and Garlic with the back side of a flat serving spoon (arisi karandi) and set aside.

Take a little oil in a kadai and roast the ingredients for powdering as mentioned above. I would suggest you to fry red chillies and dhania first, followed by jeera and sombu, later light fry black pepper and curry leaves. Fry fenugreek separately to light brown.

Mix all the fried ingredients and powder them. Set the powder aside.

Now take 1/4 spoon of Jeera, Black pepper and sombu and make a coarse powder and set aside.

Now take some more oil in the kadai and add half spoon of Jeera and mustard seeds. Add a piece of Red chilli set the flame on medium. When mustard crackles, add diced tomato and a sprig of curry leaves. When tomato pieces start leaving water, add roasted powder and fry for no more than 45 seconds to 1 minute.

Now add extract of Tamarind and a cup of water and boil the mixture till Tamarind leaves the raw smell (five to six minutes at the most).

Now add churned Thoram Parappu and salt. Make the consistency of this rasam on a thickish side like a kozumbu. Now add roughly beaten Ginger and Garlic pieces and set to boil for further three or four minutes. Lastly add coarsely prepared powder of Black pepper and Jeera and sombu. Give a last boil for two minutes. Garnish with finely cut Kothumalli leaves. Cover the vessel and let the rasam mature for at least one hour .I would suggest you to prepare this rasam about two hours in advance.

I BET, YOU WOULD BE BOWLED OVER BY A REFRESHING TASTE OF THIS RASAM.