Rasam

Ingredients

• pressure cook
  • 1/2 cup red gram dal (aka pigeon peas or toor dal)
  • 2 tomatoes, diced (or one 14 oz can)
  • 50 g of dried tamarind pulp
  • 2 tsp rasam powder
  • 1/2 tsp asafoetida powder
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 to 1 ghost pepper (optional, to taste)
  • 3 1/2 cups water
• tempering
  • 2 tsp ghee
  • 1 tsp brown mustard seeds
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp split urad dal (optional)
  • 1 red chili, halved (optional)
  • a few curry leaves
• cilantro, chopped (garnish)

Directions

1. Pick over and rinse red gram dal.
2. Place dal, diced tomates, tamarind pulp, asafoetida powder, rasam powder, salt, ghost pepper, and water into a pressure cooker. Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes with a natural release. Then crush / mash the contents together.
3. Tempering. Heat ghee in a frying pan, add the mustard seends, cumin seeds, dal, red chili, and curry leaves. When the mustard seeds start sputtering, add to the rasam.
4. Garnish with cilantro.

Notes

• Traditional recipes call for simmering the red gram dal for 45 minutes before making the soup. Previously I had cooked the dal in the pressure cooker for 0 minutes with a 10 minute release before cooking the soup on the stove. This recipe forgoes all that to just do everyting in the pressure cooker in one go.
• A lemon sized ball of dried tamarind pulp is approx 50 grams.
• Tamarind paste is usually bitter and acrid compared to plup, so if you can't get pulp don't bother with the paste.

References

• Dakshin, p20 by Chandra Padmanabhan
• Simple Sumptous Cooking - Tomato Rasam – Instant Pot Dal Rasam

Ingredients

• 3.5 oz (1 1/4 cup) corriander seeds
• 0.75 oz (5/8 cup == 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) red chilies
• 2.5 oz (3/8 cup == 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp) red gram dal (aka pigeon peas or toor dal)
• 2 tbsp bengal gram dal (aka yellow split peas or chana dal)
• 1.5 oz (1/4 cup) black peppercorns
• 3/4 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 small bunh of curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp ground tumeric

Directions

1. Pick over and rinse red gram dal and bengal gram dal.
2. In a heavy saucepan, dry-roast al the ingredients (except the tumeric) separately until they each give off a strong aroma.
3. Blend or grind all ingredients into a fine powder.
4. Store in an airtight container.

References

• Dakshin, p138 by Chandra Padmanabhan

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