Rasam

Ingredients

• Toor Dal - 1/4 cup
• Tomatoes - 2
• Tamarind - 3/4 tspn(Paste) or small lemon size pods
• Garlic - 5 pods
• Coriander Leaves - For garnishing
• Rasam Powder - 2 tspn
• Jaggery - a pinch
• Black Pepper, Cumin Seeds, 2 Dry Red chillies and Curry Leaves for seasoning

health tip

Tomatoes are rich in Vitamin C & anti-oxidants.Spices in this recipe induce the secretion of gastric juice, which helps in digestion. Toor dal has protein. Garlic has anti bacterial properties.

Rasam

1. Cook the toor dal with some turmeric powder & water till the dal gets mushy. I usually make bigger batch and freeze it in ice cube tray for later use. Two cubes would be enough for this recipe. Having the frozen toor dall and rasam powder at hand helps me to make the rasam in a jiffy.
2. Chop the tomatoes, & extract tamarind juice if using tamarind pods.
   Using little bit of ghee along with oil for seasoning also gives a nice flavor.
3. Heat some oil in a pot & season it with cumin,black pepper, broken chillies & curry leaves. Add the bruised garlic & chopped tomatoes. Saute it with salt till the tomatoes gets mushy.
   Instead of sauteing the tomatoes, microwave the tomatoes for two minutes & add it to the seasoning
4. Add the rasam powder and let it cook for few more minutes. Now add water and cooked toor dal along with tamarind extract and a pinch of jaggery. Add more water if needed. When the rasam is about to boil turn off the stove. Sprinkle some chopped coriander leaves & serve it hot.