Rasam

Rasam is comforting food at any time.When you are sick or when your mouth is not tasting good or when you completely lost your appetite or when you are bored of curry and dal and want something light and comforting it acts like a miracle.When ever I think of rasam it brings back the memories of my child  hood.When I was a child, our daily dinner  used to comprise of potato fry,mudda pappu and rasam and we are not bored of it on a single day.Even now my daughter loves it very much.There are many variations in preparation of rasam.Today's recipe is andhra version of rasam or what we call it as charu. It can be taken as soup or it tastes excellent with rice and mudda pappu(dal).

Ingredients:
Tamarind-1big lemon size ball(Soak it in warm water for 15 minutes and extract juice)
Tomato-1small(Chopped roughly)
Turmeric-1tsp
Rasam powder-2tbsp
Salt to atste
Red chilly powder-2tsp(Adjust to your taste)
Coriander leaves.

For tempering:
Mustard seeds-1tsp
Cumin seeds-1tsp
Curry leaves-few
Hing-big pinch
Ghee-1tbsp(You can replace it with oil)

Method:

1. Extract the juice from tamarind and add 2 cups of water to it.
2. Add tomatoes, salt, turmeric powder and rasam powder to it.
3. Cook it on medium flame for nearly 15 minutes taking care that it will not over flow the vessel.
4. Now add red chilly powder, coriander leaves and cook for another 10 minutes.
5. In a small pan heat ghee add mustard seeds, cumin seeds.When they start crackling add curry leaves and hing.
6. Pour this tempering into rasam and mix well. 

Rasam powder:
Tur dal-1/2cup
Urad dal-2tsp
Chana dal-2tsp
Coriander seeds-1/4cup
Pepper corns-2tbsp
Red chillies-2-3
Salt -1tsp
Turmeric powder-1tsp

Method:
Dry roast tur dal, urad dal and chana dal. When they emit nice aroma and turn light brown add coriander seeds, pepper corns and red chillies and fry for a while.(Take care not to burn coriander seeds). Cool them completely and grind them to fine powder along with salt and turmeric powder(Coffee powder works best for this)
This stays fresh for up to a month in an air tight container.