Chettinad Tomato Rasam

Happy Birthday, Madras. I so wanted to post this recipe yesterday. But the stupid power went off when I opened the “Add New Post” 🙁 Well, better late than never. Here’s my small tribute to you. I have also written about my story in the city here. Have a look, I’m sure you will like it 🙂

Coming to the recipe. I wanted to try an authentic Chettinad recipe and found the same from  Solai’s True Chettinad Kitchen.  I have made slight variations to suit my taste, though.  It is a favorite for lunch at my home, to be had with rice. It is also served as a refreshing drink or soup after lunch or in the evenings. Good for digestion and cold too, because of its spices, esp grounded pepper. I love the freshly crushed peppercorns rather than pepper powder bought from store. It adds a more enhanced flavor to the dish.

Ingredients:

Ripe Tomatoes – 2

Tamarind Paste – A huge tsp

Water – 3 cups

Salt

To Crush:

Black Pepper Corns – 2 tsp, Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp, Garlic Cloves – 5

To Sputter:

Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp, Dried Red Chillies  – 3, Curry Leaves – few, Coriander Leaves finely chopped – 1/4cup

Method:

Crush together pepper corns, cumin seeds and garlic cloves. Keep aside.

Grind the tomatoes along with little water, salt and tamarind paste. Mix well. Keep it aside.

Heat oil and sputter mustards. Add curry leaves and dried chillies to the pan and saute for a few seconds.

Add the tomato mixture into this and heat it up. Let it boil and add the crushed spices. Add the remaining water and let it boil. Though the original recipe says there is no necessity to boil the rasam, I let it boil and then simmer till the 3 cups of water is reuced to two. This way, I get a more concentrated soup.

Add coriander leaves. Serve hot 🙂