Milagu Jeera Rasam
South Indian tangy soup with freshly ground cumin seeds and black pepper
Ingredients
- ½ tbsp tamarind paste / gooseberry-size tamarind
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp asafoetida / hing
- Salt to taste
To grind
- 1 tsp cumin seeds / jeera
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp toor dal
- 1 dry red chilly
To temper
- 2 tsp ghee
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- Few curry leaves
Instructions
- In a pan, roast cumin seeds, peppercorns, toor dal and red chilly until nice aroma comes. Cool and grind to a fine powder.
- Soak tamarind in 1 cup warm water and extract the juice. Add 1 cup water to this tamarind extract.
- In a vessel, add the tamarind juice, cumin-pepper powder, turmeric powder, asafoetida, salt and mix well. Bring to boil.
- Boil well till raw smell of tamarind goes. Simmer until the rasam turns frothy. Remove from heat.
- In a pan, heat ghee and add mustard seeds. When in splutters, add cumin seeds, curry leaves and pour over the rasam.
Notes
- Do not boil the rasam after it becomes frothy.
- Usually we do not add garlic in this rasam, but if you want, you can grind 1 or 2 garlic cloves with cumin and pepper.
- Tempering in ghee not only enhances the flavor, also tones down the heat from black pepper and chilly.