Mysore Rasam Recipe

Rasam is a great digestive to be included in our meal. It has self healing ingredients, cumin and pepper which are great to keep flu at bay. Mysore Rasam is a speciality of Karnataka. It is prepared by making a freshly roasted rasam powder which has aromatic cumin, pepper and whole lot of coconut in it. The cooked dal is then simmered with this freshly ground rasam powder, along with tamarind and jaggery which balances the flavours. Course : Lunch Ingridients : 1/2 cup Arhar dal (Split Toor Dal) , cooked 2 Tomatoes , roughly chopped 20 grams Tamarind , lemon sized 1 teaspoon Jaggery 1 Green Chilli , slit 1 sprig Curry leaves 2 sprig Coriander (Dhania) Leaves , finely chopped 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds (Rai/ Kadugu) 1/4 teaspoon Asafoetida (hing) 2 teaspoons Ghee Salt , Salt for taste Ingredients for the Rasam Powder 2 teaspoons Chana dal (Bengal Gram Dal) 2 teaspoons Coriander (Dhania) Seeds 1/2 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera) 1/2 teaspoon Black pepper powder 2 Kashmiri dry red chillies 1/4 cup Fresh coconut , grated Instructions To begin making Mysore Rasam, wash and pressure cook tur dal for 3 whistles. Allow the pressure to release naturally, mash dal and keep aside.Add a little lukewarm water to the tamarind, and extract 1 cup pulp. Keep aside.To make the mysore rasam powder, dry roast all the ingredients - chana dal, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black pepper powder, Kashmiri dry red chillies on a low heat until the chana dal turns golden and spices starts releasing their aroma.To this add the grated coconut and dry roast until it turns a bit brown. Cool this mixture and make a fine powder using a mixer grinder. Keep aside.Take a sauce pan, add the mashed tur dal, tamarind pulp, chopped tomatoes, slit chillies, 2 cups water and simmer until the tomatoes are well cooked and mushy.To this add the prepared rasam powder, jaggery, season with salt and bring it to the rolling boil and switch off the heat.Now to prepare the tadka/tempering, heat ghee in a small tadka pan add the mustard seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves, once it sputters add this tempering to the prepared rasam.Garnish the rasam with coriander leaves. Serve Mysore Rasam along with Steamed Rice, Beetroot Palya, Salad and Papad for a delicious Karnataka meal for a weekday lunch.