Nataraja Iyer Rasam

 

This rasam recipe was invented by Nataraja Iyer. Long time ago he wrote a cookery column in a tamil magazine. At that time he gave this recipe to his readers. My mom used to prepare it often. It was a big hit in our household. Everyone liked it. I forgot this recipe for a long time and one fine day I  remembered about this rasam. I asked my mom for the recipe even she could not remember it. So I searched in internet and found a single post about this rasam.

This rasam preparation is very unique. We never boil tamarind juice when making rasam but this recipe calls for boiling the tamarind extract. Nataraja Iyer asked the readers to prepare this rasam in a brass vessel (pithalai sombu) for a better taste. I do not have any brass vessel. So I prepared it in a heavy-bottomed aluminium cooker. This is the most flavourful rasam I ever had. Anybody will get hooked to it,  because of  its nice aroma and excellent taste. Try this, you will love it.

 

Ingredients :

Cooked and mashed toor dhal- 1 cup

Tamarind- size of a lemon

Dried red chillies- 5 nos

Green chillies- 4 nos

Curry leaves- 20 leaflets

Jeera seeds- 2 tspns

Black whole pepper- 1 tspn

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tspn

Asafoetida powder- 1/4 tspn

Mustard, fenugreek and jeera seeds- 1/2 tspn

Jaggery (vellam)- a small piece

Garlic- 3 pods (crushed)

Salt to taste

Oil or ghee for tempering- 1 tbspn

Method :

Cook and mash toor dhal. Mix 2 cups of water to it and keep aside. Take tamarind and soak it in 3/4 cup of  warm water for 10 minutes. Extract the tamarind juice by squeezing it . Now add 3/4 cup of water again to the extracted tamarind juice. Once again add 3/4 cup of water. Take the tamarind juice in a brass or any heavy-bottomed vessel. To this add broken red chillies, crushed green chillies, curry leaves,  a small jaggery piece, salt, turmeric and asafoetida powder. Boil this mixture well until it becomes half of its original volume. Now add the cooked dhal and coarsely ground jeera and balck pepper seeds to the boiled tamarind mixture. Boil this mixture again until a froathy layer forms on the top. Remove from fire. Take a pan. Heat oil or ghee. When the oil gets heated add mustard, methi seeds (fenugreek) and jeera seeds. When they splutter add curry leaves and crushed garlic. Switch off the stove and transfer the tempered ingredients to the rasam. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. A very aromatic rasam will be ready to be served.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Use brass vessel if possible or any heavy-bottomed vessel. Do not miss any ingredients. Ghee adds a lot of flavour. Use tamarind which is sour enough. Happy cooking !!!

Kollu rasam / Horse gram rasam / Ulava chaaru

  

Kollu in Tamil, ulavalu in Telugu, kulith in Marathi and horsegam in english, these lovely little beans  look very beautiful. My mom never used this lentil in cooking. I am introduced to this lentil by one of my friend named Singaravelan. He used to bring this rasam. He prepares it himself. Sometimes he even has beetroot in his rasam preparation :). Few times I got a chance to taste his kollu rasam. It tasted very good. He used to say that kollu has many medicinal properties. 

The scientific name of horsegram is Macrotyloma uniflorum. It is generally used as a horse feed. It is very rich in iron and molybdenum. They are also high in polyphenol content. They have high amonut trypsin inhibitor. So it is always better to soak them or roast them well before cooking, otherwise the trypsin inhibitors  willl interfere with protein digestion. 

Kollu or horse gram  is appreciated for its medicinal properties. In tamilnadu villages people prepare it when somebody in home is suffering from fever. It is also thought to help with water retention. People with kidney stones are encouraged to include it more often in their diet. Kollu is also claimed to be good for losing weight. Whetever might be,  the rasam prepared with kollu tastes wonderful with a mild nutty flavour. I love it. Hope you will  like it too.

 

Ingredients :

Kollu or horsegram - three handfuls

Tomato- 1 no

Tamarind- size of a small lemon

Green chillies- 3 nos

Red chillies- 4 nos

Jeera seeds- 1 heaped tspn

Pepper corns- 1 tspn

Fnugreek, mustard and jeera seeds- 1/2 tspn each for tempering

Turmeric powder- 1 /2 tspn

Asafoetida powder- 1/4 tspn

Garlic- 6 pods

Coriander leaves- a handful

Curry leaves- 20 leaflets

Oil- 3 tbspns

Salt to taste

Method :

First roast the kollu in a hot pan until they acquire a darker colour and emit a nice aroma. Then pressure cook it until they are cooked. The water in which the horsegram is cooked acquires a dark brown colour. This water should be used for making rasam. I guess this water is rich in polyphenols and iron. Seperate the cooked kollu from the remaining water. Grind the cooked kollu in a food processor to a paste. Soak tamarind and extract its juice. Now add tomato, coriander leves, curry leaves and kollu paste ( how much to add depends on you. If you need a thick rasam add more kollu paste) to the diluted tamarind water. With your hand mash the tomatoes and all other ingredients well. Now take red chillies, green chillies, garlic, jeera and pepper corns in a food processor. Just give a pulse spin to grind them coarsely. Tansfer these ground itmes into the tamarind water mixed with other ingredients. Mix everything well with your hand. Add turmeric and asafoetida powder to this mixture. Now heat a pan with oil. When the oil gets hot enough add fenugreek seeds. When they become brown and emit a nice aroma add mustard and jeera seeds. When they splutter add the entire tamarind water mixture to the pan. When the top of the mixture foaths remove from fire and add enough salt to taste. A very tasty, healthy, aromatic kollu rasam will be ready to be served.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Kollu contains small stones hidden between them. Make sure to clean the kollu before you use. Either soak or roast kollu well before cooking. Never allow the rasam to boil. When it froaths on the top (as shown in last picture of the collage) you should remove from fire. Add salt only at the end of rasam preparation. Kollu gets charred easily. So when roasting stir them frequently: Happy cooking !!!

Rasam

Rasam is an integral part of tamilian cuisine. In my home rasam is almost prepared everyday. It is a comfort food for many people. My dad loved to drink rasam like a soup. Ofourse its a kind of soup and it tastes excellent with hot rice and papadam. My way of rasam preparation is very simple. Takes just a few minutes to prepare and I have received compliments for my rasam many a time. Please do not add rasam powder of any brand to your rasam. Definitely that is the first step to spoil your rasam. Rasam is a concoction of several spices which is very good for your general health and digestive system. That is why we tamilians used to finish of any 'virundhu saapadu' ( feast) with rasam. When people suffer from cold and fever rasam is an extremely comforting food. Pepper, turmeric, garlic and jeera added in the rasam, in its raw form definitely have many healing properties. Now comes the most sought rasam recipe :

Ingredients :

Tamarind- small  lemon sized ball

Red chilly- 4 nos

Green chilly- 3 nos

Black pepper corn- 1 tspn

Jeera- 1 tbspn

Ripe tomato- 1 no (big sized)

Garlic- 4 pods (with skin intact)

Coriander leaves- a handful

Curry leaves- some 10 leaflets

Urid dhal,fenugreek, mustard, and jeera seeds for tempering- 1/2 tspn each

Turmeric- 1/4 tspn ( a few pinches)

Asafoetida- 2 or 3 pinches

Oil- 4 tspn

Salt to taste

Method :

Soak the tamarind in water and extract juice. Dilute the tamarind juice with water and adjust its sourness according to your taste. Now powder the black pepper corn and jeera seeds into a  rough powder. Crush the garlic along with the skin. Do not remove the skin. Now to the diluted tamarind juice add asafoetida, turmeric powder, powdered pepper and jeera seeds, whole tomato, coriander leaves, curry leaves, red and green chillies. With your hand crush all the ingredients thrown into the tamarind juice nicely . The tomato should be torn into pieces, coriander leaves and curry leaves should be crushed nicely so that their aroma seeps into the tamarind water, crushed garlic must be crushed with your hand much more , the green and red chillies must be crushed and broken down into pieces. Continue this crushing process with your hands for atleast three minutes. Then wash your hand immediately with soap bcause many a time I end up keeping my fingers in my eyes or face. If it happens the burning will be horrible. Be careful. Now after all this step you have to make the tempering or talimpu. Heat a pan. Add 4 tspns of oil. When the oil gets heated add urid dhal and fenugreek seeds. When they turn brown add jeera and mustard seeds. When they splutter transfer the tamarind juice mixture into the pan. Now the most important thing, do not allow the tamarind juice mixture to boil. It should be about to boil but it should not boil. You can see white foam like formations on the top of rasam ( nuraithu varum). When such white foam occupy the entire surface area of rasam  switch off the stove. Add few more coriander leaves and salt to taste at the end. Very tasty and flavourful rasam will be ready to serve.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Do not add any rasam powder. Do not miss any ingredient mentioned. Do not grind all the needed ingredients using a mixer grinder. Use your hand as mentioned above. I love to see garlic skin in rasam. I am used to it. Never allow the rasam to boil. Rasam acquires a hard, unpleasant taste (kaduthu pogum) and the total effort will be spoiled. Another important thing is add salt only at the end. This also helps to prevent rasam acquiring a hard taste. Try it you will love it .  Happy cooking !!!

Vandikaran pachadi / Pachi pulusu (Raw rasam)

Simple dishes always taste great!!! Vandikaran pachadi or pachi pulusu is no exception for this rule. I knew pachi pulusu only after my marriage. I didn't also know until very recently such a dish exist in tamil . The credit of introducing vandikaran pachadi goes to Mani anna. He said that people  prepare this dish (perhaps as a quickie!!!) when they travel by bullock cart from one place to another during olden days (golden days!!!). Hence the name vandikaran (bullock cart owner!!!) pachadi (?). This dish also shows  how our ancestors were able to make quick, tastier dish with minimum ingredients available locally.

There are many varieties of rasam but this rasam is very unique and any other rasam which needs extensive preparation can't even come near it in taste. Bachelors can easily prepare this dish within a matter of few minutes. When you have a simple lunch or dinner with this dish your stomach will definitely be happy

Ingredients :

Red chillies

Mustard seeds

Garlic- 1 pod (optional)

Onion- 1 no (cut into bite sized pieces)

Tamarind- small lemon sized ball

Oil- 1-2 tspns

Method :

Soak the tamarind in water and extract it's juice. Add enough water and adjust the sourness according to your taste. Now heat a pan, add 1 tspn of oil. When the oil gets heated add the mustard seeds. Let it splutter. Then add the red chillies. Saute untill the red chillies get fried a bit (perhaps a minute or so). Then add this tempered material into the diluted tamarind juice. Now add enough salt,cut onions and crushed garlic piece inside the tamarind juice and with your hands crush everything together untill the red chillies are broken into small pieces. Taste the rasam once again and adjust salt according to your taste. The smell of raw onions, fried red chillies and mustard in tamarind water, hmmm.... simply heavenly!!! and it tastes heavenly too!!!!!  On the next day of preparation this dish tastes even better. When you eat rice along with this rasam you get a crispy onion with every bite of rice and I just enjoy it. Try it for a quick, tasty meal. Serve with hot rice and with any fried dish from chicken to papadam.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : The main imporatant thing you have to check is the sourness of tamarind and the salt. It should match your taste buds and let it be a little hot (add enough red chillies). Definitely you will be conquered by it's taste. Happy cooking!!!