Rasam Using Kalathu Podi

Pathiya Samayal contest entry by Rajeshwari Ganesh

Ingredients

Tamarind - 1 gooseberry size
Kalathu powder - 2 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Ghee - 1 teaspoon

Method:
Heat tamarind in flame and soak in water and extract the juice in a vessel.
Along with the tamarind juice add the kalathu powder, salt and allow the rasam to boil
Heat ghee in a pan and when the ghee is hot, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and allow it to sputter and then add this seasoned ingredient to the boiling rasam and remove the rasam from flame.
Serve the rasam with hot rice.

Jeeraga Rasam by Uma Sridharan

Ingredients:

Tamarind: Size of a lemon
Toor Dal: 2 tbsps
Turmeric powder: ¼ tsp
Jeera: 1 Tbsp
Curry Leaves: handful
Salt: to taste
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Ghee: 1 tbsp

Method
Extract Tamarind. Mix with 2 cups of water. Add salt, s and boil the tamarind water for 10 to 15 mts. In a kadai, roast the Toor dal, and Jeera. Grind them in a mixer by adding few curry leaves with little water make it as a paste. Add this Jeera – toor dal paste to the boiling tamarind water and stir well. Boil for 5 more mts. Pour ghee in the kadai, add mustard seeds and while it starts spluttering, add curry leaves and roast. Pour it to the Rasam. Remove from the fire. Serve hot with punarbagam.

Pathiya Samayal contest entry by Uma Sridharan

Venthaya Rasam/Methi seeds Rasam

Venthayam, Methi seeds are good for health especially for those who are diabetic. It is better to use methi seeds in daily cooking. A spoon or two of the methi seeds be added to thuvar dal daily. It enhances the taste of the rasam or sambar. But if the thuvar dal is to be used for kalathu paruppu or to be given to kids then keep that thuvar dal separately in another cup.

Ingredients:
Thuvar Dal - 2 tbsp
Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp
Tomato - 2 nos medium sized
Tamarind Paste - 2 tbsp
Rasam powder - 1 tbsp
Red Chilly - 2 to 3 nos
Ghee - 2tsp
Asafodeita - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Coriander leaves - a few
Salt to taste

Method:
    Cut the tomatoes into small pieces or better puree it. Add tamarind paste to 1 1/2 cups of water and mix well.

     In a pan heat 1 tbsp of ghee, add red chillies, asafodeita, methi seeds fry them for a min or less, let it cool and grind it to a fine powder.

       In a hard bottom vessel add the sliced tomatoes or tomato puree. Add the tamarind water, salt, curry leaves and ground powder and bring it to a boil. Remove from flame and add finely chopped coriander leaves. Heat the seasoning laddle add the remaining ghee add mustard seeds and let it splutter add it to the rasam.

Pudina Rasam by Shripriya

Ingredients:

1. Pudina - half bunch

2. Jeera - 1 tblspoon

3. Pepper - half tblspoon

4. Toor Dhal - half tblspoon

5. Asafoetida - a pinch

6. Red chilies - 1-2

7. Toor dhal pressure cooked - 3/4 cup

8. Tomatoes - 2 medium sized

9. Tamarind - small lemon sized

10. Curry leaves and coriander leaves- few springs

11. For seasoning: Ghee, mustard, and jeera.

12. Salt - as needed.

Method:

1. Fry pudina leaves in a teaspoon of oil and keep aside.

2. Fry jeera, pepper, toor dhal half tblspoon, asafoetida, and red chillies in little bit of oil.

3. Grind pudina and rest of the fried items together.

4. Soak tamarind in about 2 cups of water and extract tamarind juice. Add salt, chopped tomatoes, and curry leaves and bring it to boil.

5. Add the pressure cooked dhal. Let it boil  for few more minutes.

6. Add the ground paste. Boil it for few more minutes until good aroma comes.

7. Turn off the stove, season it with items mentioned for seasoning, and garnish with coriander leaves.

Yummy....hot....soup-like....rasam is ready. Goes excellently well with hot white rice. And you can just drink it too....like a soup. Enjoy.

Lemon Ginger Soup by Shripriya

Soup recipe posted by Shripriya Ramakrishnan for Party menu - 1

Pressure cook about one cup of toor dhal with little bit if turmeric. Fry 1 table spoon of jeera and 1 table spoon of pepper in a teaspoon of oil, then powder it. Then grind the cooked toor dhal also and add about 2 cups of water. Take 3-4 inch size ginger piece, grate it and put it in this toor dhal gravy. If you want, add 2 green chillies also. Add salt. Add the pepper-jeera powder. Let it boil. The consistency should be watery....like we should be able to drink it like a rasam. Once the boiling is done, switch off the stove. Add lemon juice according to taste. This is such a yummy soup, even kids will love.

Veppam poo Rasam or Neem flower Rasam

Veppampoo rasam or neem flower rasam is made mainly during Tamil New Year and Ugadi. Though this seem to be a simple one to make have lots of medicinal values. Its always good to have it once in a while along with hot rice and little ghee.

Ingredients:
Tamarind Paste - 2 tsp

Veppampoo Rasam with Tomatoes

Thuvar Dal - 1/4 cup
Red Chillies - 2 nos
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 2 tsp
Dhaniya or Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Dried neem flowers - 1 to 2 tbsp according to one's taste
Hing/ Asafodeita - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 pinch
Curry leaves - a few
Coriander leaves - a few
Salt to taste

method:
In half a tbsp of ghee fry thuvar dal, red chillies, pepper, dhaniya and a few curry leaves. Remove from flame and add jeera in the hot pan. It will get fried. Grind all these to a fine powder along with hing.

In a shallow vessel, add 2 cups of water to the tamarind paste. Add salt and turmeric powder and bring it to boil. When it boils add the ground powder and bring it to boil again. Alternatively mix tamarind paste and the ground powder along with salt and turmeric powder and pressure cook it for two whitsles.

In the remaining ghee add mustard seeds and when they splutter add the dried neem flowers and pour it on the cooked rasam. Chop coriander leaves finely and add it to the rasam. Add the remaining curry leaves too to the rasam.

Note:
Finely chopped tomatoes can be added too.

Instead of making this rasam using tamarind paste, the same can be done with lemon rasam too.

Poondu Rasam by Jyotsna

Pathiya Samayal Contest Entry by Jyotsna

Ingredients :
2 full garlic bulbs Peeled
One lemon sized tamarind
a pinch of asafoetida
salt to taste.

For grinding
1 handful of kadalaiparuppu and tuvaram paruppu
4 red chillies
few black peppercorns
jeera - 1 tbsp

For seasoning :
mustard seeds
2-3 karuveppilai

Method:
a) roast and grind all items mentioned in 2 above and keep aside.

b) Soak tamarind in water and extract pulp..Add salt and hing to this pulp and add peeled garlic pods and boil till the raw tamarind smell vanishes
c) add the ground mixture to the boiling rasam and dilute as necessary
d) season with kadugu and karuveppilai preferably in ghee..

Variations :
If this is for delivery paththiyam, we generally do not use kadalai paruppu..more of thuvaram paruppu is used.. The same can be made without garlic and more of milagu to make it to the taste of milagu rasam.

Serving suggestion - To serve with hot rice with LOTS of ghee..:))

Ginger Rasam

Ingredients:
Ginger - 2 inch piece (50 gms)
Tomato - 6 nos (preferably the sour ones)
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Curry leaves - 1/2 cup
Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup
Asafodeita - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Green chilly - 1 no
Rasam Powder - 1/2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:
Grind the tomatoes along with curry leaves, coriander leaves, asafodeita, rasam powder and salt. Peel and mash the ginger coarsely and add it to the ground paste. Add 2 cups of water and bring it to a boil. When the bubble starts appearing on top, remove from flame.

In a seasoning laddle add ghee, and when hot add mustard seeds and when it splutters add green chilly slit into two. Saute for a few seconds and add it to the rasam.

Though this can be had with rice, it is good to have as a soup too.

Different types of Rasam recipes

In many places Rasam is taken up as a soup during monsoon season or when it rains heavily. Hot rasam is always a great dish to drink when you have a sore throat or when you feel cold and feverish. Rasam is mostly made using Rasam podi but there are always substitutes or other methods to make any dish. 

Rasam or Sathamuthumade in a typical South Indian Tambrahm house hold is a must every day and it is enriched with flavours of curry leaves, coriander leaves, asafodeita, and a tadka made with ghee. Finely chopped or mashed tomatoes add great flavour to it along with the tamarind extract.

The ingredients to make rasam are common and so is the tadka. The dal used is Thuvar dal. Rasam always falls under medicinal food as there are lot of benefits in consuming it. Rasam helps in digesion, as the pepper and cumin seeds whether it is added as it is or as a mixture in the rasam powder helps in secretion of digestive juice. Rasam helps a lot in treating constipation. It keeps the body well hydrated and nourished. Adding lentils and herbs like curry leaves and coriander leaves helps in making it a complete dish to eat with rice or drink as a warm soup. The addition of the herbs helps in disposing of the body waste and acts as a detox and helps in preventing water retention. Rasam is offerred to pregnant woman and lactating women.

Rasam can also be had as soup, appetizer apart from mixing it with rice and having as a course of meal. South Indians cant do any course of their meal without Rasam. There is a large list of Rasam varities one cam make every other day. Right from one minute rasam to araichu vitta rasam or pine apple rasam. Some types are rasam  make a good medicine.

One minute Rasam

Mysore Rasam Method - 1

Mysore Rasam Method - 2

Goddu Rasam

Lemon Rasam

Instant Rasam

Pathiya Rasam

Pudhina Rasam (Mint leaf rasam)

Pudina Rasam by Shripriya

Spicy Rasam

Tomato Rasam

Pineapple Rasam

No Dal Rasam

Poricha Rasam

Venthaya Rasam - Methi seeds rasam

Ginger Rasam

Veppam Poo Rasam

Veppam Poo Rasam by Usha Kumar

Jeeraga Rasm by Uma Sridharan

Kandanthippili Rasam  by Malini

Poricha Rasam by Malini

Pineapple rasam a recipe to tickle to taste buds of all

Ingredients:
Tomatoes - 4 nos
Green Chillies - 3 nos
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Thuvar dal - 1/4 cup
Rasam Powder - 1 1/2 tbsp
Asafodeita - 1/2 tsp
Tamarind paste - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
Curry leaves - 1/4 cup
Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Pineapple - 1/2 (medium sized)
Sugar - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Chop of of the pineapple, add sugar, 1/2 cup of water and pressure cook it for about 1 or 2 whistles. Remove and mash and drain to get pineapple syrup. Cut the remaining pineapple into small pieces.

Pressure cook Thuvar Dal and mash it finely. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and keep it ready.

Add 1 cup of water to tamarind paste. Chop tomato finely, ginger pieces, 1/2 of the curry leaves and 1/4 cup coriander leaves and add it along with pineapple pieces and boil it in 1 cup of water. Blend it using a juicer blender.

Add the extract to tamarind juice along with slit green chillies, rasam powder, salt, turmeric powder and asafodeita. When it comes to a boil add the mashed Thuvar dal and let it bubble.

Remove from flame. Add 1 tsp of pineapple syrup. Decorate it with finely chopped pineapple pieces, chopped curryleaves and coriander leaves.

In a seasoning pan add ghee and when hot add mustard seeds and when it splutters add Jeera and one pinch of hing and add it to the rasam.

Tomato Rasam

Ingredients:
Tomato - 1/4 kg
Garlic - 4 flakes
Green chilly - 2 nos
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Black pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1/4 cup
Coriander leaves chopped - 1/4 cup
Ghee - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin - 1 tsp
Asafodeita - 1`pinch

Method:
Grind the tomatoes in a juicer grinder. Add cumin powder, pepper powder, garlic flakes and green chillies and salt and boil all of them together. When it bubbles up on top remove from flame.

Chop the curry leaves into two halves and sprinkle it on the rasam. In a seasoning laddle add ghee and when hot add the mustard seeds and when it splutters add the jeera seeds and asafodeita. Garnish it with coriander leaves.

Simple and tasty Rasam

Ingredients:
Tamarind paste - 2 tsp
Tomatoes - 2
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Thuvar Dal - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 pinch
Curry Leaves - a few
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Ghee - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red chillies - 2 nos
Asafodeita - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Water - 3 cups

Method:
Grind tomatoes, tamarind paste, curry leaves, pepper, 1/2 tsp of Jeera, coriander seeds and thuvar dal to a fine paste. Add 3 cups of water, salt and turmeric powder and mix well. Keep the vessel inside a pressure pan and cook for one whistle.

In a tempering ladle heat ghee, add mustard seeds and when it splutters add jeera, red chilly and asafodeita. Add it to the rasam. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Can be had with rice and also as a soup.

Spicy Rasam - An appetizer recipe for a rainy day

Ingredients:
Corinander seeds (Dhaniya) - 1/4 cup
Thuvar Dal - 1/4 cup
Red Chillies - 6 to 8
Hing  (asafodeita) - 1/2 tsp
Tamrind - 1 lemon size
                 or
Tamarind Paste - 2 tbsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Tomato Puree - 2 tbsp or 1 big tomato (optional)
Coriander leaves finely chopped - 3/4 th cup
Salt to taste

Method:
Grind thuvar dal coarsely. Grind coriander seeds also coarsely.

Make 3 cups of tamarind juice either out of tamarind or tamarind paste.

Heat  1 tbsp of ghee in a shallow pan, add the ground thuvar dal, when it turns golden brown add the ground coriander seeds and red chillies. Add asafodeita, tamrind juice and salt and bring it to boil in a medium flame. Let it reduce in quantity (say to almost 1/2). Add 1.5 to 2 cups of water and tomato puree and bring it to boil again. Add coriander leaves to it and when it starts bubbling remove from flame.

In a sesoning laddle add the remaining 1 tbsp ghee and add mustard seeds to it and let it splutter. Once done add it to the rasam.

Serve in a bowl with just little rice and ghee (more of this rasam will do the needful appetizing). This also helps in controlling Blood Pressure.

Recipe for Mysore Rasam - Method 2

This is a typical Karnataka style recipe, which is served with rice. Made as a special kind of rasam in Tamilnadu during festivals or during functions at home.


Ingredients:
Tamrind Paste - 2 tbsp
Tomato - 1 medium sized
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Bengal gram - 1 tbsp
Pepper corns - 8 to 10 no.
Red Chillies - 3 to 5 nos.
Turmeric powder - pinch
Grated coconut - 2 tbsp
Asafodeita - 2 pinches
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Curry leaves - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Thuvar Dal - 1/2 cup

Method:
   Pressure cook Thuvar Dal and mash well. Make tamrind water out of tamrind paste (which should be equal to 1 cup).

   In a pan add 1 tbsp of ghee and fry coriander seeds, pepper corns, red chillies, Bengal gram till they turn golden colour. Add the grated coconut and fry it till it turns golden brown. Cool and grind it to a fine powder.

   In a shallow vessel add tamrind juice and a cup of water, salt, turmeric powder and asafodeita. Grind tomato, curry leaves and coriander leaves to a paste and add it to the boiling liquid. Boil the liquid till the raw smell of tamarind is gone. Add the cooked and mashed thoor dal to the boiling liquid and when it starts bubbling add the ground powder, chopped curry leaves and coriander leaves and leave for 1/2 a minute. Remove from fire. Add 1 tbsp of finely chopped mint leaves.

In a seasoning laddle add 1 tbsp of ghee and mustard seeds, when it splutters add cumin seeds and a pinch of asafodeita and add it to the rasam.

Serve hot with steamed rice and fried appalam(south Indian Pappad)

Recipe for Instant Rasam Powder

If there is no Rasam Powder stock at home, an instant powder can be made. This can be stored for about 2 weeks. Ingredients: Coriander seeds (Daniya) - 3 cups Thoor Dal - 1/2 cup Jeera - 1/4 cup Red Chilly - 1/2 cup Method: Fry all the ingredients one by one in a dry pan till the raw smell is gone. When cool, grind them to a fine powder and store it in an airtight container.  Note: 1/2 cup of Curry leaves can also be fried and ground along with the other ingredients.

Pudina Rasam - Mint Leaf Rasam recipe to increase appetite

Though I add a bit of Mint Leaves, whenever I have it at home to the Rasam I make, I came across the special Pudina Rasam recipe which every one in the family liked very much. Infact it turned out to be a great soup too.

Ingredients:
Mint Leaves - 1/2 bunch
Tomato - 2 nos (big sized)
Garlic - 2 to 3 flakes
Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli - 1
Tamrind Paste - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Hing - a pinch
Rasam Powder - 1 tsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp

Method:
Add 2 cups of water to tamrind paste and mix thoroughly. Cut tomatoes into small pieces. Add salt, finely chopped tomatoes and rasam powder to the tamrind paste and boil it.

Grind fresh mint leaves, garlic, cumin seeds, pepper  and add it to the boiling tamrind water. Let it boil again. When it bubbles remove from flame.

In a pan add ghee and when hot add mustard seeds, when it splutters add the red chilly and asafodeita. Add it to the Pudina Rasam.

Decorate it with fresh mint leaves.

How to make Pathiya Rasam - Post Pregnancy Rasam

This rasam is good for lactating mothers. When it is given to Lactating mothers tomatoes should not be added. But this rasam can be had by all and when it is had by all, tomatoes can be added.

Ingredients:
Tamrind Paste - 1 tbsp
Salt - To taste
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
Coriander Leaves - 1/4 cup
Pathiya Rasam Powder -  2 tbsp

  For tempering
    Ghee - 1 tbsp
    Mustard seeds - 1/2 tbsp
    Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp

Method:
Mix tamrind paste in 2 cups of water. Add salt, Rasam powder and rbing it to boil. When boiling add curry leaves and coriander leaves. When it bubbles, remove from flame and temper.

Pathiya Rasam Powder- Post pregnancy Rasam Powder

Ingredients:
Red chillies - 2 or 3
Thur Dal - 2 tsp
Kandathippili - 5 pieces
Dry Ginger (sukku) - 1 cm
Hing - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp


Method:
In one tbsp of ghee add Red Chillies, Thuvar Dal, Kandathippili, Dry Ginger, Hing, Pepper and Jeera . Grind them to a fine powder.


This can be stored in freezer and used for about a week. 

Recipe for an Instant Rasam

Rasam is must in our household. But kids always want a different type of rasam every other day. So I thought of making something different which can also be had as soup. This is a no tamrind rasam too.

Ingredients:
Tomatoes - 3 or 4 nos
Coriander Leaves - 1/2 cup
Pepper - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
Red chilly - 1 no
Curry Leaves - 1/4 cup
Salt to taste

Method
Grind all the ingredients together to a fine paste. Add 2 cups of water to it and bring it to a boil. Remove from flame and season it with mustard seeds in ghee.

This can be served with hot rice or can be had as an appetizer soup too.

Instant Garlic Rasam Powder

Garlic Rasam is good for gastric trouble. This powder can be made either in small or large quantities.

Ingredients to make Garlic Rasam Powder:
Coriander Seeds - 1/4 cup

Black Pepper - 2 tbsp
Thur Dal - 2 tbsp
Red Chilly - 8 nos
Jeera/Cumin Seeds - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 6 to 8 pods depending upon the size.

Method to make Garlic Rasam Powder:
Fry all the ingredients including garlic one by one. Grind them in a mixer grinder to a coarse powder. Store this powder in an air tight container.

Note:
This quantity is good for about 3 to 4 times usage. If you want more you can increase the quantity and store it in freezer for about 3 to 4 months.