Rasam is such a comfortable food, that nobody would say No, I think.  I used to love Rasam from childhood, but still shouldn't tell lies right ?, Sometime I would love to eat it just like that but most of the time I would always demand that I need something to go with it, like vadam ( papads in different ways ), later stages I would go with some dry curry then on I still love eating it with Onions, Cucumbers or Tomatoes, and do you know one another thing I would love to eat Rasam with is Pulkas / Chapatis :)).  Oh! that's my favourite too.., writing this is making me nostalgic reminding me of how my Dad used to chop all the veggies in a plate and keep it in a designed pattern, he still does this to his grandchildren, My kids love to have food in my mom's house not just because it is paati's cooking ( Nan's cooking).  It is because how my Dad does these little things which is very interesting for them!!.
Coming back to this recipe.., A little twist to our authentic Rasam.
Check out my little tips for variations for this recipe.., hope you enjoy and try out and tell me how you like it...
Look at the Lovely colour of my Rasam..

ROASTED RED BELL PEPPER ( RED CAPSICUM )  RASAM



INGREDIENTS:
1/4 Cup Tuvar Dal
1 Tomato
2 Red Bell Pepper
1 Onion
2 Cloves of Garlic
2 tbsp thick Tamarind juice *
2 twigs of Curry leaves
2 to 3 tbsp of Coriander Leaves
2 tsp of Salt
1/4 tsp Sugar
2 to 3 tsp of Rasam Powder **
A pinch of Hing (Asafoetida )
1 lt of Water

SEASONING:
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tbsp of oil / Ghee
1/2 tsp Jeera /Cumin seeds

METHOD:
First of all wash the lentils - Tuvar Dal, and Tomato with a cup of water and a tsp of turmeric cook it in a pressure cooker up to 2 or 3 whistles.
Meanwhile apply a bit of oil on Red Pepper, Onions , Tomato and Garlic cloves ( do not remove the peel ). Keep all this on a meshed plate on the stove top.***, keep the flame in a medium flame and roast them turning them now and then until you feel that they are kind of roasted and cooked.
This can be noticed in different ways, do not roast it too much where the skin becomes too black, if it is a bit blackened here and there, it is fine.  Tomatoes starts oozing out the juice.
As I don't throw away the blackened bit, which is the one gives the roasted flavour to the Rasam.
Once you have done the roasted bit, take them out and allow them to cool down. Grind the cooled Roasted bit into a smooth paste.

Take the cooked Tuvar dal in a big vessel ( A vessel which fits around 1 and 1/2 lt of Water).
Add Tamarind Juice with 2 Cups of water and allow it to boil, for 3 to 4 minutes, then add the Ground paste and required quantitiy of  Rasam Powder, Asafoetida, salt and sugar.
Allow them to boil for further 3 to 4 minutes, then add the remaining water. Increase or Decrease the quantity of water according to your liking then add finely chopped Curry leaves and Coriander leaves. Bring to a low flame from medium flame.
In a small pan heat oil / Ghee, once hot add mustard seeds and cumin seeds , saute them when they splutter ****, switch of the stove add this seasoning to the Rasam.
Enjoy it with hot Rice and a dollop of ghee and with your favourite Dry curries . Papads  or Salads of Veggies....

Tips :
You can even omit Tuvar Dal if you do not want to use it.
* Tamarind Juice - If you are using fresh Tamarind use around 15 grms of tamarind flakes soaked in hot water  or In a microwave safe bowl, take Tamarind flakes and 1/2 cup of water and heat it for just 1 minute. It will be very hot, leave it for few minutes or if you want to use it immediately add 1/2 cup of cold water which brings down the temperature and allows you to squeeze the Tamarind juice or use the ready made one.
** If you do not have Rasam Powder try this powder which gives you a flavourful rasam.
 Quick Rasam Powder:
1 tbsp Coriander seeds,
1 tsp Cumin seeds, `
1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds,
1/2 tsp Black Pepper,
1/4 tsp Mustard seeds,
3 to 4 Curry leaves
5 to 6  Badgi chillies ( If you don't get Badgi chillies then get some Kashmiri chillies, which gives colour and some birds eye chillies according to your taste of spiciness/ hot you like )

METHOD: Heat a tsp of oil , first add fenugreek seeds when they turn golden in colour add the other Ingredients and fry all of them in a low flame, so they don't get burnt away and every thing fries as needed, Other wise you can fry each of them separately but use oil only once.  When cooled grind them into a smooth powder. use this instead of Rasam powder.
*** Meshed plate  is something like this I use.. (will post the photo soon )
**** Splutter - If you are new to seasoning be careful, you can close it with a lid otherwise, as they splutter haywire and it might hurt you .

I served this rasam with a simple Beetroot stir fry...

The post Roasted Red Bell Pepper / Capsicum Rasam ( Kind of thin soup ) appeared first on My Veg Fare.

BANANA FLOWER BLOSSOM/VAZHAPOO PARUPPU URUNDAI RASAM

INGREDIENTS:
15 No Banana Flower/Vazhapoo Paruppu Urundai
1/2 lime size Tamarind
1 Medium sized Onion
2 Tomatoes
1 and 1/2 tbsp of Rasam Powder
Curry leaves
Salt
Asafoetida

Seasoning:
1 tsp of Mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and cumin see
1 tsp Pepper Corns
1 tsp Cumin seeds

METHOD:
To take the extract from Tamarind, just take 1/2 cup of water with tamarind and microwave it for a minute, Meanwhile, Take 2 litres of water, Bring it to boil, then add a some cold water to the microwaved tamarind, so that your hand is comfortable enough to handle the hot water then squeeze out the tamarind extract, and pour into the boiling water and then allow it to boil for few minutes until the raw smell of the tamarind disappears then add Rasam powder.
Then add salt and the Banana Dumplings into them slowly, and you can see that the balls start floating to the surface, then using a pestle and mortar, grind pepper corns and cumin seeds to a coarse powder add this and Asafoetida to it. you can see in the picture below how the dumplings are floating to the top.

Meanwhile chop the onions and Tomatoes and set aside, In a wok, heat a tbsp of oil, once it is warm add mustard seeds, after they splutter add fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds when they change colour and chopped onions and curry leaves, once the onions are transparent add the chopped tomatoes and sauté for a minute so they get cooked well, add this whole Sautéed Ingredients to the boiling water.

The combination of Rasam with the dumplings was so delicious, and perfectly suitable for the cold weather, Kids did not ask for a dry curry or a papad, as they always when I make Rasam or Sambhar. They used the dumpling as a curry going well with Rasam :)).
The Iyengar way of making this Rasam, you have to omit Sautéing of onion and Tomatoes, but just add the Dumplings into the Tamarind water and in the end season it with mustard seeds and curry leaves and of course do not miss adding the coarsely ground pepper and cumin seeds.
An another look at my Vazhapoo Rasam, alas I cannot pass it on to you...

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

BANANA FLOWERS/VAZAHPOO/BAALE HOOVA

photo courtesy from www.shutterstock.com, while I was searching for a photo I found this in Google Images, the flowers were so beautifully photographed, I just fell in love with this, isn't it so beautiful, so I picked this one up. Dear shutter stock thanks for your lovely clicks hope my readers would enjoy and visit your stock! of lovely Photographs.

Sending this to Tried and tested event Started by Zlamushka and now taken care of by Lakshmi and guest hosted by Nivedita of Seduce your taste buds.
Hope she accepts my late entries.

The post Banana Flower Blossom/Vazahpoo Paruppu Urundai Rasam appeared first on My Veg Fare.

NANGAINALLUR RASAM, PULIKAACHAL AND POTATO-ONION ROAST

The post Nangainallur Rasam, Potato-Onion Roast and Tomato Pulikaachal appeared first on My Veg Fare.

Rasams are usually made out of dals and lentils, with Tomatoes and Tamarind for the tanginess and with all the exotic, aromatic and medicinally valued Indian Spices. There are so many different kinds of Rasams these days with all sorts of ingredients, veggies and fruits. I feel this one gives you an exotic touch to your rasam, as I love pineapple in any form, The sweetness and tanginess gives it a lovely flavour and a good taste too. This is one of the rasams which has a sweet taste in it.., without adding sugar or jaggery to it, very easy to make and very tasty too.., Here is the procedure to make this lovely rasam, Here in this rasam Pineapple is used instead of Tomatoes.

PINEAPPLE RASAM

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pineapple
• 1/2 cup Tuvar dal
• 3 to 4 flakes of tamarind (marble size)
• 1/4 tsp of turmeric
• 1 & 1/2 tbsp Rasam powder (of your choice and as required according to your taste)
• 3 to 4 sprigs of coriander leaves
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• salt as required

Seasoning:

• 1 tsp of oil (or Ghee - Clarified butter)
• 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds

METHOD:

1. Cook the chopped pineapple pieces in 2 to 3 cups of water until they are done, Meanwhile pressure cook tuvar dal with turmeric in a cup of water till soft and keep aside.
2. soak tamarind in warm water and squeeze the juice out of it. 
3. In a vessel with a cup of water allow the tamarind extract to boil so the raw smell of the tamarind disappears then add rasam powder allow it to boil, then add the cooked tuvar dal let it keep on boiling
4. Meanwhile take the cooked pineapple into a sieve with the water and squeeze all the juice out of them and discarding the pulp.
5. Add this pineapple extract to the juice and allow it to boil for very few minutes in simmer, keeping the flame low, so that the pineapple absorbs the spices and everything in the rasam
6. Meanwhile in a small kadai heat oil and add the seasonings, add this to the rasam, garnishing with chopped coriander and curry leaves and allow it to stay on the stove for another 2 minutes, put off the stove and it is now ready to served with rice and a dollop of ghee or drink it just like that.

I have mentioned about Rasam Powder, you can use even the store bought ones available in Asian shops or you can make your own, Here is one quick recipe for making a rasam powder

RASAM POWDER

• 1/2 tsp pepper corns
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp Bengal gram dal
• 1 tsp Tuvar dal
• 4-2 Red chillies (Guntur-Badgi)
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida
• 4 to 5 curry leaves
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

METHOD: Fry all the ingredients mentioned above except for cumin and  turmeric powder, with a 1/2 tsp of oil and when cool grind them into a powder with cumin and  turmeric powder, add this to the rasam making it into a paste or use it just like that.

FEW TIPS:
Tamarind Juice : For a quicker method, You can just warm it in a microwave for a few seconds and can squeeze the juice immediately. Discard the pulp and seeds if any. (These days you can buy tamarind which are quite cleaned without any seeds and other things in it ).
After adding pineapple do not boil Rasam for a long time it might turn very sour

The post Pineapple Rasam appeared first on My Veg Fare.

The best part some of them still visit her or sometimes she goes to visit them, This time when I went to visit her I wrote so many recipes from her book. More than her, I am trying them all as my Brother-in-law doesn't fancy anything which has garlic cooked in his kitchen!, well, he loves the pulav I make but I am not supposed to use garlic and even north Indian dishes if we prepare we cook them without garlic !!.  It doesn't mean he doesn't eat!, he takes us to restaurants and he eats their but somehow he doesn't like us using it in the house.  well, this is one dish from sis's book.

As I had written to many of fellow bloggers, I always cook only in the night and most of them say 95% of the photos I take are in the night!  Sometimes I do not get them very well,  I am not saying that my clicks are good even thoughsome of my lovely friends who comment on my blog most of the time with their wonderful and encouraging words say so,  I do not believe them!,  as any lay man would say, that mine or uncomparable to their clicks.   I do not know if I could ever reach to their mark, they really do a good job and show such an enthu and interest in their blogging they do it with step by step instructions and photos, I sometimes think I should stop blogging I am really no good to this world of cookery blogging, I really take this opportunity to congratulate each one of you and hats of to you with your blogging and do keep up the good work.

Well let me come back to my recipe, so this is one such photo I just took it from my container in which I made the rasam! 

TOMATO RASAM

Ingredients:

• 3 to 4 Tomatoes medium sized
• 2 sprigs of curry leaves
• 2 tbsps of fresh grated coconut
• 1/2' fresh ginger
• a little bit of jaggery
• 2 green chillies
• 2 Red chillies
• 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 2 flakes of Tamarind
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• oil for seasoning
• 5 to 7 sprigs of fresh coriander leaves
• a bit of asafoetida
• salt as required

METHOD

1. Take tomatoes, green chillies ( use chillies according to your taste buds and check the spiciness of the chillies), Red chillies, coconut, cumin,coriander seeds, ginger and Tamarind flakes in a mixer and grind them all into a smooth paste.
2. Take a container and add the smooth paste with enough water to make it into rasam consistency and allow it to boil until the raw smell disappears.
3. Then add asafoetida and jaggery and required quantity of salt.
4. Take a wok,heat oil and then add mustard seeds when they began to splutter turn off the stove and add the seasoning to the rasam
5. Add finely chopped or whole curry leaves and allow it to boil for 2 to 3 minutes and put off the stove
6. Now it ready serve it with hot rice and a spoon of desi ghee !

PS: Just remember, please do use the chillies according to your taste, because the taste depends on every individuals taste buds, my recipes might be spicy to some of you.

The post Tomato Rasam appeared first on My Veg Fare.

SEERAGA-MOLAGU (JEERA-CUMIN) RASAM

Ingredients:

• Tamarind - 3/4 th Lime size
• A pinch of Asafoetida
• salt to taste
• A sprig of curry leaves

To Grind:

• 1/2 tsp Pepper
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp Thuvar dal
• 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 2 - 1 Red chillies (Guntur-Badgi)

Seasonings:

• 1tsp Ghee or oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds

METHOD:

1. Fry the above in To Grind ingredients except cumin seeds in a 1/2 tsp of oil and grind them with cumin seeds into a smooth paste or fine powder.
2. If you do not want to use oil u can roast them too.
3. Soak the tamarind & with that u make about 1/2 litre of juice, and put it on the stove & allow it boil so that the raw smell disappears.
4. Now add the powder or if u have made it into a paste mix it with little more water & then pour it into the Tamarind juice,
5. Boil for a few more minutes, when the rasam froths up, add curry leaves & asafoetida
6. Remove from fire, season with mustard.

METHOD II

This is my mom-in-law's method of cooking this Rasam

1. Pressure cook a cup of Tuvar dal washed with one or Two Tomatoes, When u increase the Tomatoes reduce the quantity of Tamarind, with a pinch of Turmeric.
2. Follow the same method as in Method I only thing is you have to add cooked Tuvar dal & Tomatoes.
3. Season it with mustard seeds, curry leaves, hing & coriander leaves.
4. Serve it with Rice with a spoonful of Ghee.

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