Inji poondu rasam

Since Usha amma is the primary cook of our house, there aren’t too many times I cook regular Indian food. Even for blogging, she will be standing next to me instructing me what to do. So, when she falls sick & I take over the kitchen, the one good thing that comes out of the whole thing is I end up cooking a lot of Indian food. Don’t get me wrong, I love Indian food esp south Indian food but I just don’t make them on a regular basis. This time when Amma was sick, I realised I need to cook our staple food more regularly rather than wait for her to fall sick 😀 :D. Anywho, sick person in the house usually calls for a hot cup of inji poondu rasam (ginger/ garlic rasam). It’s good for the body & soul overall :D. My fil loved this rasam & gave me a huge thumbs up & said I should cook more often. The recipe was orally given by mil to me & I noted it down on Adya’s slate (chalk board). Adya had a big problem that I was using his slate (which was lying totally unused for so many days) and got his small slate & said ‘Amma, that’s mine, pls gimme’. And in return, he gave me the small slate :D. So, I re-wrote the measurements on the small slate :D. For some reason, I love noting down recipes by hand and with Adya’s slates lying around, that seems to be the most convenient option for me. Do any of you feel the same way as me?? to write down recipes?? Anywho, this recipe is an absolute stunner and works perfect for people with or without cold :D. It has the right amount of heat in it. You can have this as soup or you can mix this in some hot rice with a dollop of ghee. Either ways, hits the spot rightly. Try it out & let me know if you like it.

5 from 1 vote

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Inji poondu rasam

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

 

Course: Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 3 persons

Ingredients

To grind together

• 1 tbsp toor dal/ pigeon pea
• 2 no dried red chillies
• 2 pods garlic
• a small piece ginger 1/2 tsp
• 2 small tomatoes or 1 big one

For the rasam

• 12 pods indian garlic the small ones
• 1 tbsp ginger
• 4 tsp tamarind pulp 1 lemon size tamarind soaked in warm water
• 2 tsp rock salt
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• a handful fresh coriander leaves

For tempering/ seasoning

• 1 tsp ghee
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp jeera/ cumin seeds
• a handful curry leaves

Instructions

To grind together

1. In a small mixer jar, add all ingredients in the 'To grind together' section except tomatoes. 

2. Once the toor dal, red chillies, ginger & garlic are ground together, add quartered tomatoes & grind it to a smooth puree. 

For the rasam

1. In a heavy bottom vessel or a kadai, add the ground mixture. Along with it, add roughly sliced garlic, ginger, turmeric powder, rock salt & tamarind pulp and 4 cups of water (3 cups if you are looking to have this as a soup).

2. Bring all of this to a boil. Once the mixture starts to boil, turn down the flame to the simmer option & let the rasam water boil for 10 minutes. 

3. Add freshly chopped coriander leaves at this stage & let the rasam boil for another 5-10 minutes. Check & adjust for salt at this stage. 

4. You know the rasam is done when there is no raw smell of any ingredients from the rasam & the garlic will also be completely cooked. Turn off the heat at this stage. 

5. In a small pan/ kadai, heat some ghee & add mustard seeds. 

6. Once it starts to splutter, add jeera/ cumin seeds. Once it starts to brown, add some curry leaves & turn off the heat. 

7. Add this seasoning on top of the rasam (that sizzling sound is awesome) & mix well. 

8. Rasam is ready to be served as is as soup or as an accompaniment to rice. Either ways, delish max 😀

Stepwise pictures

In a small mixer jar, grind together toor dal, garlic, ginger & red chillies (refer to the to grind together section). Do not grind the tomatoes as yet.

Once you grind the dry ingredients together, add roughly chopped (quartered) tomatoes in the mixer jar.

Grind everything together into a smooth puree.

Now take a heavy bottom vessel (kadai also works fine) and add the ground puree along with rougly chopped garlic & ginger, tamarind pulp, rock salt & turmeric (I thinned the tamarind pulp to remove any extra fibre).

Add 4 cups of water & bring the mixture to a boil.

Once the mixture comes to a boil, simmer the flame & let the rasam water boil for 10 minutes.

After around 10 minutes, you will see the quantity of the rasam reducing. Add freshly chopped coriander leaves at this stage.

Let the mixture boil for another 5-10 minutes.

You know you are done when there is no raw smell of the rasam and the garlic looks well cooked. Turn off the heat.

In a small pan/ kadai, heat 1 tsp ghee. Once heated, add mustard seeds. Once it starts to splutter, add jeera/ cumin seeds.

Once the jeera starts to brown, add a handful of curry leaves. Turn off the heat.

Transfer the tempering/ seasoning on to the rasam & serve the rasam hot as is or pour it on top of hot rice with a dollop of ghee on it.