I am a big fan of rasam in all its variations. These light broths are delicious and serve as both an aperitif and a digestif.
Rasam is derived from a Tamil word ‘irasam’ and the Sanskrit word ‘rasa’, both words meaning essence or extract. It is believed to have originated in the 16th century in Madurai by Sourashtras, an immigrant community. They prefer calling it ‘Pulichaar’, which means tart or tamarind.
Every South Indian restaurant serves at least one variety of rasam. Today, rasam is coming back into fashion in upscale restaurants, where it is served as an aperitif before dinner or even as a cocktail ingredient.
This is a lovely rasam. The pineapple is the highlight, light and sweet-tart. The rasam is flavourful and not too spicy, making it easy to sip. I like to serve it as an aperitif to get the stomach juices flowing and make the guests hungry, rather than at the more traditional end of the meal digestif.
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Ingredients:
For the rasam powder:
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
3/4 teaspoon cumin seed
1-2 dried red chillies
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon split chickpea lentils (chana dal)
1/2 teaspoon asafoetida
For the temper:
2 tablespoons ghee
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 dried red chilli
10 curry leaves
For the rasam:
3 cups water
1/4 cup pigeon peas (toor dal), soaked for a minimum of 4 hours in 3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups water
1 1 1 1/2 teaspoon tamarind paste
salt, to taste
1/2 cup fresh pineapple, pureed and strained through a fine mesh sieve + wedges to garnish
Cilantro to garnish
Rinse and drain the toor dal completely. Add it to a pot with the salt and water and cook on a low simmer for 60 minutes until it is very soft and breaks apart. At this point, you can puree the lentils with a hand blender, leaving them with a slight texture in about 1/2 cup water. Set aside.
In a dry frying pan, roast the coriander, cumin, chillies, pepper, and chana dal individually until each is aromatic and lightly toasted. Cool completely. Add the asafoetida to a small spice mill and pulse into a fine powder. Set aside.
Heat the ghee in a small pot on a low flame. Add the mustard seeds and fry for 10 seconds until they splutter. Add the chilli and curry leaves and cook for 20 seconds. Add the spice paste and fry for 10 seconds, careful not to burn the spices.
Add the tamarind, salt, water and lentil purée and simmer for 30 minutes. Taste for salt and spice. The rasam should be mildly spicy and tangy. Take off the heat and add in the puréed pineapple. Mix in well. Do not cook after adding the pineapple. Taste for tartness: the rasam should have a bold pineapple flavour with a balance of sweetness, tartness and spice.
Serve warm or at room temperature with a wedge of pineapple and cilantro garnish.
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