Wash and chop tomatoes.
Wash, drain and cook toovar dal in two cups of water until soft. Strain, mash dal well. Reserve the strained cooking liquor.
Clean, wash and finely chop coriander leaves. Reserve two tablespoons for garnish. Wash and pat dry curry leaves.
Soak tamarind in one cup of warm water, remove pulp and strain. Remove stems and break red chillies into two.
Mix tamarind pulp with chopped coriander leaves, rasam powder, asafoetida, salt and half the curry leaves and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for two to three minutes.
Add tomatoes and reserved cooking liquor. Simmer for four to five minutes and add mashed dal. Stir well and cook for a minute.
Remove from heat and sprinkle reserved coriander leaves.
Heat pure ghee in a tempering pan, add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add broken red chillies and remaining curry leaves. Pour tempering over prepared rasam and cover immediately to trap the aroma. Serve hot.
Chef\'s Tip
You can strain this rasam and serve in small tumblers with lemon wedges, as an appetizer. Traditionally all rasams are made in a vessel made from a special alloy. This gives a unique flavour to the preparation. |
