Jeera Podi rasam

I am back to blogging after a big break!

Today, I made some simple south indian food. Menu included: Chenai Kazhangu roast, vendakkai vethal kuzhambu and Jeera podi rasam.
I had jeera podi rasam after a very looong time and it's one of my favourite rasam!

It turned out a little hot for me as I have not been having a lot of spicy food lately.
Adjust the ingredients that are fried according to your spice level!

Jeera Podi Rasam

Ingredients
Tamarind (Puli) - 1-2 fifty cent size pieces
Sambhar Powder - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder (manjal podi) - 1/4 teaspoon
Curry Leaves (karuveppillai) - 3-4 big leaves
Toor Dhall (Thuvaram paruppu)- 1/2 cup
Salt (Uppu) - 1/2 teaspoon (add to taste)
Tomato (thakkali)- 1 cut into medium size pieces
Butter/Ghee (nei)- 2 teaspoon melted butter
Cilantro (Kothamalli) - 10 fresh leaves
Mustard seeds (kadugu) - 1/2 teaspoon

For frying:
Cumin Seeds (Jeeragam)- 1-2 teaspoons
Whole Black pepper (muzhu milagu) - 1/2 teaspoon
Red Chillis (kaintha chaeppu milagai) - 2-3
Asofoeteida powder (perungaya podi) - 1/2 teaspoon
Oil (Vegetable/Canola/ Sunflower) - 1 teaspoon

Boil Tamarind in two cups of water in a saucepan till its cooked. Let it cool down and squeeze the tamarind to get all the juices. Remove the remains of the tamarind.

Pressure cook Toor Dhall in 1-1.25 cups of water.

Fry the red chillis, whole black pepper , cumin seeds and asofoeteida powder in oil one by one, and keep aside for cooling down. Grind the cooled off ingredients in a mixer/blender with little water to form a paste.

Heat the tamarind juice in the saucepan. Add cut tomatoes, sambhar powder, turmeric powder, salt and let it boil for about 10 minutes. Add the cooked dhal and continue boiling for 7-10 more minutes. Add the ground paste and let it simmer for a few minutes and turn off the heat.

Garnish with popped mustard seeds in butter/ghee, cilantro and curry leaves.

Serving size: 4