Ginger & Curry Leaf Rasam(Spiced Soup)

With the temperature dropping down to below freezing and with snow all around, it is very much common to find signs of cold and cough in the house hold. Apart from a healthy diet, exercise and optimum levels of Vitamin D, certain spices like ginger which is a warming herb can help knock out a fever. The warming effects make it a natural decongestant as well as an antihistamine, making it the perfect remedy for colds.

This rasam(a spiced soup) can be had with warm rice or warm quinoa. It not only tastes excellent, stimulating your taste buds but really helps out when you have a cold, fever or any kind of digestive disorder. There is no reason for not trying this easy, healthy and tasty one. Do let me know how you like it.

Preparation Time - 5 Minutes

Cooking Time - 15 Minutes

Serves - 4

Ingredients

Tamarind - 1 small lemon sized ball

Red Chili - 4 or to taste

Black Pepper - 1 Tsp

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Thoor Dal - 1 Tsp

Curry leaves - handful

Salt - 1 1/2 Tsp or to taste

Water - 4 Cups

Rasam Powder - 1/2 Tsp (This is optional and you can add it or skip it, but adding it gives little bit more flavor)

Tempering



Ghee (Clarified Butter) - 1 Tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 Tsp

Cumin Seeds - 1/2 Tsp



Method



1) Soak the tamarind in 1/2 cup of warm water and let this sit down for few minutes. You can even presoak in the night for making an instant rasam in the morning.



2) Heat a pan and dry roast black pepper, red chili, thoor dal till the raw smell is gone and they slightly brown. Switch of the stove and to this add the curry leaves and the peeled chopped ginger piece and set it aside.



3) Squeeze out the pulp from the soaked tamarind, by adding 3 cups of water little by little. Make sure it is thoroughly squeezed and the pulp is all extracted. Boil this tamarind juice by adding salt and rasam powder.



4) Now grind all the roasted ingredients into a fine powder and i use this left out 1/2 cup of water to rinse the blender with any of the powder sticking to it.



5) Once the tamarind juice boils for 10 minutes and the raw tamarind smell is gone, add the ground spices along with the 1/2 cup of water and let this simmer for another 2 minutes and switch off the stove.



6) Now heat a pan and add the ghee, once it is warm add the mustard seeds. After they stop spluttering add the cumin seeds and after they turn golden transfer it to the hot rasam. Serve this with steaming hot brown rice, or quinoa.

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Tomato Rasam (Spiced Indian Tomato Soup)

Rasam is one of the best comfort foods, spicy, tangy, flavorful and goes perfect with cooked Quinoa or Rice and can be made in a jiffy. There are so many different kinds of rasam and this is one of the simplest and easiest one. With bare minimum ingredients and very quick to make, this will be very handy if you are rushing against time and are still aiming for home cooked healthy meals.



Cooking Time: 10 to 15 mins



Preparation Time: 5 mins

Serves : 2 to 3



Ingredients



Small sized tomato chopped into pieces - 1

Green chilly - 1 (if you want really spicy increase it)

Chopped Cilantro - 2 table spoons

Asafoetida - 1 small piece or 1/2 tsp

Water - 3 cups

Cooked thoor dhal along with turmeric powder - 1/2 cup

Rasam powder - 1 tsp

Tamarind - small lemon sized ball soaked in 1/4 cup of water

Salt - 1 Tsp or to taste



Tempering



Oil - 1/2 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp



Garnishing



Chopped Cilantro - 1 tsp

Method



1) Soak the tamarind in 1/4 cup of warm water and let this sit for few minutes till the tamarind softens.



2) In a pan combine half of the water, tomato pieces, green chilli, asafoetida, rasam powder, cilantro, ,salt and boil for about 5 minutes till the tomato pieces are little softened.



3) Now squeeze out the soaked tamarind using the remaining 1 1/2 cups of water and add it to the tomato mixture and boil for 10 more minutes or till the tomato pieces are well cooked.



4) Now add the cooked toor dhal and let this boil for 2 minutes till the dhal is well combined. Switch off.



5) Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds, once they stop spluttering transfer it to the cooked tomato dhal mixture.



6) Let this cool for few minutes then garnishwith cilantro and server with cooked plain quinoa or rice with a spoon of ghee(clarified butter) and sauteed vegetables.

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Lemon Rasam(Soup)

Rasam is a spicy, tangy South Indian soup prepared with tamarind juice or lemon along with pepper and other spices.

Know what you Eat - A half-cup of juice meets 100% of the RDA for vitamin C.

Cooking Time: 10 to 15 mins

Preparation Time: 5 mins

Serves : 2 to 3

Ingredients

1 Small sized tomato chopped into pieces

Green chilly - 1 (if you want really spicy increase it)

Chopped Ginger - 1 tsp

Chopped Cilantro - 2 table spoons

Asafoetida - 1 small piece or 1/2 tsp

Water - 3 cups

Cooked thoor dhal along with turmeric powder - 1/2 cup

Rasam powder - 1 tsp

Lemon - Juice of half lemon (Increase this if you want to taste it more tangy)

Tempering

Oil - 1/2 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Garnishing

Chopped Cilantro - 1 tsp

1) In a pan combine water, tomato pieces, green chilli, asafoetida, rasam powder, cilantro, ginger,salt and boil for about 10 minutes.

2) Once the tomato pieces are well cooked, add the cooked toor dhal and let this boil for 2 minutes till the dhal is well combined. Switch off.

3) Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds, once they stop spluttering transfer it to the cooked tomato dhal mixture.

4) Let this cool for few minutes then add the lemon juice and garnish with cilantro.

5) When the rasam is boiling hot, do not add the lemon juice as it will become bittter.

6) Cilantro is normally used only for garnishing at the end, but when boiled along with all the spices the aroma will be awesome.

This dish is our contribution to RCI-Pondicherry Cuisine, hosted by Lavi as an entry from Tamil Nadu. RCI was originally started by Lakshmi.

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Milagu Rasam(Indian Spicy Pepper Soup)

Rasam is South Indian Dish prepared with tamarind or lemon juice, flavored with spices and made either with or without the addition of cooked Toor Dal. It is normally mixed with rice and eaten or you can relish as a soup too. To somebody who is used to the taste of this dish it is surely a comfort food, very simple to make and with an awesome taste to entice your taste buds. Do try this rasam out and let me know what you think.



Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - 20 Minutes

Serves - 4 Ingredients



Tamarind - a small lemon sized ball

Water - 3 to 4 Cups

Tomato - 1/2 chopped into small pieces

Coriander Seeds - 1 Tbsp

Black Pepper - 1/2 Tsp

Salt - 1 1/2 Tsp or according to your taste

Dried Red Chili - 3 or more as per taste(this purely depends on your spice level & that of the chili

Ghee(clarified butter) - 1 Tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/2 Tsp



Method



1) Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup of warm water.



2) Heat a pan add 1/2 tsp of ghee and once it is warm add coriander seeds, black pepper and dried red chili and fry till they are slightly brown, switch off and let this cool.



 3) Extract the juice out of the tamarind by adding more water and squeeze out till all the pulp is extracted.



4) To this add salt and boil till the raw smell is gone.



 5) Grind the roasted mixture to a fine powder.



6) Add this mixture to the boiling tamarind water and let this boil for a minute and the whole thing will rise to the top, at this point switch off the stove.



7) Don't allow the mixture to boil for a long time after adding the pepper powder, as this will become more like a medice than a rasam.



8) Heat the rest of the ghee, add the cumin seeds and roast till golden and garnish the rasam and serve with hot rice , cooked plain quinoa or cooked polenta.

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Ginger Rasam(Spiced Ginger Soup)

Ginger has been associated with alleviation of the feeling of nausea, even in case of pregnant women. The anti-inflammatory properties of ginger make it effective in alleviation of the pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis. Ginger helps to promote warmth in the upper respiratory tract and thus, is quite effective in treating cold and flu. Those suffering from cramps, caused by stomach gas, have found ginger to be quite effective. Ginger makes the platelets less sticky and is thus, pretty helpful in case of circulatory disorders. The cineole content in ginger has been found to be a mood enhancer and can help in relieving stress. Ginger is a natural and effective mouth freshener and also aids digestion. Ginger reduces inflammation and also helps lower cholesterol. Ginger is good for those suffering from gas and bloating.

Ingredients



Ginger - 2 inch piece

Ripe Tomato - 1 small one

Green Chili - 1 or to taste

Grated Coconut - 1 tbsp

Salt - 1 tsp or to taste

Tamarind Paste - 1 tsp or if using raw tamarind soak gooseberry sized ball

Water - 3 cups

Cooked Thoor Dal - 1/4 cup(optional)

Asafoetida - very small piece or 1/4 tsp powder

Rasam powder - 1 tsp



Tempering



Oil or Ghee - 1 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves - 5 to 6 chopped



Method



1) Extract the tamarind pulp and add 1 1/2 cups of water to it.



2) Add salt, asafoetida and rasam powder to the tamarind water and let this simmer.



3) Grind the tomato, green chili, ginger and coconut to a coarse paste and add this paste along with the rest of the water to the tamarind water and spices. Let this boil till the raw smell is gone.



4) Now add the cooked dal(this is optional) and simmer for 5 minutes and switch off.



5) Heat oil add mustard seeds, once they stop spluttering add the curry leaves and switch off the stove.



6) Add this to the rasam and serve it hot.



7) Enjoy!!



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Garlic Rasam

Good to Know - Garlic is thought to play a role in providing natural protection against some forms of cancer, and the compounds in this herb continue to be studied as possible cancer treatments. It is thought that many of the compounds found in garlic have the ability to neutralize many cancer causing compounds, and that the compounds found in garlic may even be able to slow the growth of tumors.

Rasam is a South Indian soup cooked with spices, lentil and tamarind or lemon juice.
Cooking Time: 10 min

Preparation Time: 5 min

Serves: 3

Ingredients

Tamarind - 1 small lemon size ball.
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp or to taste
Garlic - 8 cloves
Curry leaves

Oil/ Ghee - 1/2 tsp


To Grid (Rasam Masala)

Red Chilli – 1 (or to taste)
Black pepper - 1tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 3/4 stalks
Ginger – 1 inch piece
Ghee – ½ tsp

Tempering

Ghee – ½ tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Method

1) Soak tamarind in warm water for a while and once soaked squeeze the juice thoroughly and filter and keep it.
2) Heat the ghee and roast Black Pepper, Jeera, Red Chilly and curry leaves and set them aside.
5) Chop the tomato and keep it aside, crush the garlic slightly without making them to pieces.
6) Now heat 1/2 tsp oil and add the crushed garlic and saute till they turn golden.
7) Add the tamarind juice, salt, asafoetida and tomato pieces and boil for till the tomato and garlic is cooked.
8) Mix the cooked horse gram and the roasted pepper, jeera, red chilly and curry leaves into a fine paste and add it to boiling mixture.
9) If the mixture is thick add little more water and boil it for another 5 minutes till all the spices are well mixed.
10) Heat the 1/2 tsp ghee and add cumin seeds and once they splutter turn golden add it to rasam.

This dish is our contribution to RCI-Pondicherry Cuisine, hosted by Lavi as an entry from Tamil Nadu. RCI was originally started by Lakshmi.

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Kollu Rasam

Good to Know - Horse gram is a very healthy legume and is one of the home remedies for cold and body aches.

Rasam is a South Indian soup cooked with spices, lentil and tamarind or lemon juice.


Cooking Time : 15 min
Preparation Time : 10 min
Serves : 4

Ingredients

Kollu (Horse Gram) - 4 tbsp
Tamarind - 1 small lemon size ball.
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp or to taste
Garlic - 5/6 cloves (optional)
Tomato - 1/2
Curry leaves
Asafoetida - 1 small piece or if using powder 1/2 tsp


To Grid (Rasam Masala)

Red Chilli – 2 (or to taste)
Black pepper - 1tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 3/4 stalks

Tempering

Oil - 1 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Garnishing

Chopped cilantro – 2 table spoons

Method

1) Soak tamarind in warm water for a while and once soaked squeeze the juice thoroughly and filter and keep it.
2) Dry roast the horse gram till it is well roasted, watch carefully as it will burn out very quickly.
3) Remove the horse gram and pour enough water to immerse it and pressure cook it along with rice or whatever you cook. Once cooked filter any excess water
and keep this aside
4) Dry roast Black Pepper, Jeera, Red Chilly and curry leaves and set them aside.
5) Chop the tomato and keep it aside, crush the garlic slightly without making them to pieces.
6) Now heat 1/2 tsp oil and add the crushed garlic and saute till they turn golden.
7) Add the tamarind juice, salt, asafoetida and tomato pieces and boil for till the tomato and garlic is cooked.
8) Mix the cooked horse gram and the roasted pepper, jeera, red chilly,curry leaves and grind into a fine paste and add it to boiling mixture.
9) If the mixture is thick add little more water and boil it for another 5 minutes till all the spices are well mixed.
10) Heat the remaining oil and add mustard seeds and once they splutter add it to the rasam.
11) Garnish with cilantro and serve.

This dish is our contribution to RCI-Pondicherry Cuisine, hosted by Lavi as an entry from Tamil Nadu. RCI was originally started by Lakshmi.

Read more »