Garlic rasam | The Comfort food and a Salute to my Grandma

After a long tiring day / after  a long trip / after recovering from being sick what both body and mind would aim for is a warm , soothing and comforting food that can bring back  the most needed energy in you. People from every country and region will have their choice of comfort food.For me , it is rasam. Piping hot Garlic rasam , bowl of rice , potato stir fry and papad ..... bliss ! check here for what Dolphia has to say about her comfort food.

Whenever I hear the term garlic rasam ,  all I can think of is my maternal grandma . She is one amazing lady who cooks with ease for 50 + people everyday. I would be amazed with the speed she preps the veggies, her eye balling the measurements and her techniques. Whenever she makes fresh pickles and some of our favorites, she would immediately pack them in a box (thooku chatti in tamil) and walk all the way to our house at her late 60's and on touching the box, we would feel the heat. Imagine how fast she would have walked to reach us that quick !

Later, when I started my career, I used to visit her often and enjoy the food  she makes especially the rasam. It would look like she is just throwing in some ingredients into a pot , if you observe her cooking from a distance but it would be unbelievable to taste.This post is a dedication to my grandma .

The fresh rasam powder is very mandate and everything else is just from the pantry. Now some steaming moments for you.

Ingredients

Fresh Rasam Powder ................................... 1 tsp
Garlic ......................................................... 1 full bulb( minimum of 10 cloves)
tamarind ....................................................  2 marble sized
Toor dal ................................................... 2 tbsp
Tomato  .................................................. 1/4 cup chopped
Curry leaves .............................................. few
Coriander leaves ........................................ few
Turmeric ................................................. 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida / Hing ...................................... a pinch
Salt .......................................................... to taste
Ghee ........................................................ 1tsp
Mustard .................................................... 1/2 tsp
Cumin ...................................................... 1/2 tsp

Method 

• Soak tamarind in warm water for 15 minutes and extract the juice with a cup of water.
• Pressure cook toor dal , tomato , 6 cloves of garlic with a pinch of turmeric and a cup of water till done . The dal has to be completely mashed.
•  Once the pressure is off , transfer the content into a deep pan / kadai . Add the tamarind water , rasam powder , turmeric , hing , salt , roughly chopped curry leaves and coriander leaves , and gently crushed garlic cloves (5)and 2 cups of water.
• Now place the kadai on stove with a medium heat. 
• The mixture has to boil slowly.
• In about 15 to 20 minutes, you will notice bubbling froth on the top . Turn off the heat.
• Heat another small kadai with ghee . once hot add mustard and cumin , once that crackles pour this tempering on top of the rasam and cover with a lid for  minutes.

Enjoy over a bed of steaming rice, potato stirfry and papad or as a warm thin soup.
Tou might want to try Apple rasam , Pineapple rasam , lemon rasam and pepper rasam .

Note

• Ghee is important to get the authentic taste.
• Be generous with fresh curry leaves and coriander.
• Do not rush and cook in high flame, this leads to alight bitter taste.