Ingredients
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3 cups water (or boiled toor dal, yellow lentils water, I used the boiled yellow lentils water)
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5 teaspoons salt
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6 tablespoons oil
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2 medium green chilies, slit
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2 inches fresh ginger, peeled, washed and finely chopped
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1 cup of fresh curry leaf, washed and torn
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1 teaspoon mustard seeds
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1 teaspoon cumin seed
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1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (methi)
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3 whole red chilies
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2 medium tomatoes, washed, peeled and chopped into cubes
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1/4 cup water (This is to be added to cook the tomatoes)
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2 teaspoons turmeric powder
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1 1/2 teaspoons coriander powder
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7 cups water (This is added to prepare the curry for rasam. You can add more or less depending on the consistency)
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1/2 cup tamarind pulp
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3 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves, washed and finely chopped (to garnish)
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1 garlic clove, peeled, washed and finely chopped
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1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
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5 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
Instructions
- With the help of a pestle, pound ginger, garlic and whole black peppercorns in a mortar as nicely as you can until the peppercorns are completely crushed and the ginger and garlic are completely softened.
- Keep aside.
- Extract tamarind pulp out of tamarind by soaking 4-5 one-inch sized pieces in 1 1/2 cups of hot water.
- Press these tamarind pieces to squeeze out the juice/pulp out of the tamarind.
- Transfer the tamarind pulp in a clean bowl.
- Keep aside.
- Heat oil in a pot on medium-high flame.
- When its hot, add mustard seeds, methi seeds and cumin seeds.
- Allow to splutter and crackle.
- Once it stops spluttering and crackling, add curry leaves and green chillies.
- Stir-fry for a minute or two.
- Then add the whole red chillies and stir-fry for another minute.
- Add the above prepared ginger-garlic-black peppercorns mixture to the pot.
- Mix well.
- Then add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and corriander powder.
- Mix well and continue to stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Put the chopped tomatoes in a bowl and crush them as tightly as you can between the palms of your hands.
- Squeeze them as well as you can to extract the juice/pulp out of them.
- Now add the crushed tomatoes alongwith the juice squeezed out.
- Mix well, add 1/4 cup of water and cook on high flame so as to allow the tomatoes to soften quickly.
- Add salt and mix well.
- Then add the boiled toor dal water (or 3 cups of plain water if you are using that).
- Stir well and bring to a boil.
- Lower flame, then add about 7 cups more of water.
- You can add upto 3-4 cups more also, if required.
- Mix well and allow it to boil for 15 minutes.
- Then add tamarind pulp and stir well.
- Boil for 10-15 more minutes.
- Garnish with corriander leaves and serve hot as a soup on its own or as a lentil curry to serve over rice with/without plain low-fat yogurt on the side.