Tomato Rasam

Ingredients

Tomatoes – 4 nos (grind 3 nos to a fine paste and finely chop the 4th tomato)
Tamarind paste of size of half a lemon
Rasam Pwd – 4 tbsps
Water – 2 glasses (or depending on how dilute you want the Rasam)
Salt – As required
Turmeric pwd – 1 tsp

For Seasoning

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Jeera / Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Refined oil – 1 tsp
Curry Leaves – few
Asaphoetida – 2 tsps (diluted in 1 tsp water)

For Garnish

Coriander leaves – ½ cup – finely chopped

Preparation Method

Boil 1 finely chopped tomato in a glass of water with little salt. Then add the ground tomato paste. After 2 minutes add the tamarind paste and let it boil till the raw smell of tamarind disappears. Add a glass of water to make the preparation dilute. Then add rasam pwd. Finally when it starts to simmer, add finely chopped coriander leaves and asaphoetida mixture. Turn off gas. In a separate kadai, heat 1 tsp oil, add mustard seeds, once it splutters, add curry leaves and jeera. Add this to the rasam. Rasam is ready. This can be had with rice.

Rasam can be made in various other varieties.

Garlic Rasam
Just add 1 cup of garlic (peeled) with tomato in the beginning while putting them to boil.

Ginger Rasam
Add ½ cup of grated garlic along with tomato in the beginning while putting them to boil.

The other varieties of Rasam will be discussed later.

Sambhar

Ingredients

Any one of these vegetables – Baby onion (2 cups), drumstick (2 sticks), brinjal/egg plant (small – 4 nos), radish (2 nos), capsicum (2 nos)
Toor Dal – 4 handfuls (cooked well in the pressure cooker & mashed to form a paste)
Tamarind paste of the size of a small lemon
Turmeric pwd – 1 tsp
Sambhar pwd – 4 tbsps
Jaggery – 1 tsp
Water – 1 glass (for boiling the vegetables)
Salt – As required

For Seasoning

Mustard seeds – 2 tsps
Methi seeds / Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp
Curry Leaves – few
Asaphoetida – 2 tsps (diluted in 1 tsp water)
Refined oil – 1 tsp


Preparation Method
Cook toor dal well in the pressure cooker and mash to form a paste and keep aside. In a separate vessel boil any one of the vegetables mentioned in 1 glass of water. In case baby onions are being used, sauté them separately in a tsp of oil till they are pink in colour and then put it to boil. This way the onions will taste better. Add a little salt, just enough for the onions. After a minute add the tamarind paste and let it boil. Add the turmeric pwd. Once it starts boiling and the raw smell of tamarind disappears, add the sambhar powder little by little so as not to form lumps. After a minute or two, add the mashed toor dal. Add salt as required and let it simmer for 2 minutes. Finally add 1 tsp of jaggery and turn off the gas. In a separate kadai, heat 1 tsp oil, add mustard seeds, once it splutters, add curry leaves and methi seeds. Turn off the gas and add this to the sambhar. Finally add the asaphoetida mixture and the sambhar is ready. This can be had with rice, idli, dosa and vada.