Pineapple Rasam

2010 has disappeared! As always I feel the year has shot past and every 31st. I wonder, how did it go by so fast?

My Mother, when I was chatting to her, said, " remember the world fretting about Y2K?, well, well, we have survived that and so much more!"

2010 was an action packed year for me, well sort of. We visited India, changed apartments, changed state, and are enjoying a family life again ( for 2 years and more, ever since little was 3 months old, M used to travel for work and was home only for the week end, which was the tough on me, but  there IS a silver lining, and I found it,  finally).

The hardest part last year was when my Grandmother passed away. It hurts even now.

On the blogging front, things were definitely slow, but I was happy that I could still manage  posting and trying many new things. Sadly, there are many drafts (pictures with 2010 mark) and I could not get those on the blog. Hopefully, I will pick up my pace this year.

This is my first winter in a state where it snows! I am still excited... really! I have enjoyed watching the snow fall, going out and playing in the snow, taking pictures like the one above, and drinking hot rasam (yes, rasam!) watching the ground getting covered in 'snuu', as my son calls it. 

Last week I was at Sams Club and they had the sweetest Pineapple on sale. I love pineapple but shy from buying it, I feel intimidated by the thought of cutting it and have visions of cutting off my fingers, ewww! 

The lady at the sample counter was very helpful and showed my how to go about slicing  the pineapple and I was happy to pick up a prickly one and happily trundle my cart to check out .

Pineapple Rasam was on my mind for a long time and I was just waiting to try it. The flavors are amazing and I particularly like biting into pineapple bits. if you are like me, try this.

This recipe makes 4 cups

Source: 660 curries


1/4 Cup Toovar Daal (pigeon peas) 
2 Cups Fresh Pineapple cubes ( 1/2 inch cubes)
1 medium Tomato cored and cubed (1/2 inch cubes)
2 tsp. Sambar Masala
11/2 tsp kosher Salt
1/2 tsp Asafetida
10-12 fresh Curry Leaves
4 Tbsp. Fresh Cilantro , chopped (leaves and tender stems)
2 Tbsp. Ghee or Canola oil( I recommend ghee) 
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp. Cumin seeds
4 Dry Red chilies- stems removed

Wash the daal thoroughly ( 3-4 changes of water) and cook the daal. I use a pressure cooker, you can cook the daal in a saucepan, it is time consuming and needs supervision.

While the daal is cooking, combine pineapple, tomato, sambar masala, salt, asafetida, curry leaves and 2 tbs. of the cilantro in a medium size saucepan. Add 2 cups of water and bring it to a boil over med-high heat. Lower the heat to medium and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally until the pineapple and tomato have softened but still firm looking ( 10-15 mins)

Once the daal is cooked, transfer the cooked daal to a blender and blend until smooth or if you have an immersion blender, use it to puree the daal.

Heat a small skillet and add ghee /oil. Add the mustard seeds. After the seeds have popped, remove the skillet from the heat and sprinkle in the cumin seeds and chiles. Stir in this spiced ghee mixture into the sweet- tart pineapple-tomato broth and add the pureed daal.

Sprinkle the remaining cilantro and serve.

Notes: This makes a mild rasam, I added extra sambar powder to give it a kick. This may be entirely because of the  ready made  sambar mix ( Iyengar Hot-Hot)I am using, If your sambar masala is strong, go with the recipe and taste before you make any adjustments.

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Lemon Rasam

Ooooh! the evenings are cold! At least for me. And what better reason to make some *hot*rasam and sip and imagine a howling wind and rattling window panes, steady snowfall piling up to create a white world.

If you have a vivid imagination like I do, you might be sniffling and shivering and probably have the fire place going and when in reality it is about 60-63 F [and to create a bit of drama... 50-55 F outside ( and that is, in the dead of the night) and NO snowfall and the windows are holding strong. Not that, that isn't cold enough for me!]

But it feels oh-so-good to hold a steaming cup and inhale the spicy-lemony flavor.

Taking a tentative sip, I know this is what the doctor recommended!

The heat coming from the ground peppercorns and the grated ginger, the lemony zing will make you wiggle your toes and dip the spoon in the bowl immediately. You can have this with rice, but I love to sip it like a soup.

Source: Dakshin (Chandra Padmanabhan)

1/4 cup Toor Daal

1 cup Water

1 inch piece Ginger, peeled and grated

4 Green Chiles ( or to taste)

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

3/4 tsp Black Peppercorn

1 1/2 cup Water, extra

2 Tomatoes , quartered

1/2 tsp Turmeric

Salt to taste

Juice of 1 Lemon

Cilantro to garnish

Tempering:

2 tsp Ghee

1 tsp Asafetida

1 Red Chile halved

Few Curry Leaves

Pressure cook the Toor daal and using a blender/ hand-held blender, blend until smooth

Grind the green chiles and ginger to a paste ( I prefer to grate the ginger and chop the chile and leave it at that)

Using a spice grinder (or as in my case a coffee grinder) grind the cumin and peppercorns to a fine powder

Place the daal in a heavy saucepan. Add 1 1/2 cup(extra) water, quartered tomatoes, ground turmeric, salt to taste, ginger-chile paste. Slowly bring to a boil

Heat 2 tsp ghee.

Add mustard seeds, asafetida, halved red chile, curry leaves and pepper cumin powder

When the mustard seeds sputter, add this to the rasam

Turn off the heat and add Lemon juice

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot (with rice)

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JFI Toor Daal - Rasam

Brrrrrrrrrr.. it's cold (people living in the East Coast, skip this line!)

It definitely is the season for warm soups and for those, like me, who also want some 'spice' in their soup make ... Rasam!

Cold nights, steaming hot bowl of rasam.. it's tantalising aroma wafting.. you dip your spoon in and raise it to your cold lips and sip.......... the warmth travels down your throat and warms you and then you dip you spoon into the steaming bowl again.. ahhhhh!

I dug up an old recipe which has been on the back of my mind for a long time now, I call it 'Bangalore Rasam'. My first taste of this awesome rasam was when I was visiting my cousin. Her Mother-in-law had made this rasam. I still remember ignoring the rest of the food to only consume this. The lady of the house was amused and pleased at my deep admiration for her culinary skills and actually blushed when I praise her rasam! But I did not stop at that, I insisted that she tell me the recipe, which I noted on a handy notepad at the dining table! Being the superlative cook that she is, she of course used 'andaz' (approximates) for the Rasam powder/ masala.. and being a novice, I wanted accurate measures, it finally ended up that she actually measured the amount for me while I was noting it.

As soon as I went back to Mumbai I made this powder, which to my delight produced the same results as the Rasam I had tasted in B'lore!! (Oh I was all puffed up at that point of time, patted myself on the back at my accomplishment, as in those days I did not cook much).

Cut to the time I was a newly wed, and I made this rasam for the first time at my new home, my hands were actually trembling and a short prayer escaped my lips and I added the ingredients, hoping to re-create the magic! My brow was fevered as I set the pot of bubbling rasam on the dining table and ladled it out for everyone.. But I should have trusted my guardian angel and my novice skills, it turned out great and my MIL was all praise and coming from her, a superlative cook herself, I treasured those words and her gentle encouraging smile!!

What also encouraged me to make this rasam again and also post about it is M's rating!! Oh Yes, he actually rates every dish I make! and this rasam had 'THE PUNCH' and recieved an A+ and therefore makes its debut on my blog!!!

This is my contribution to JFI- TOOR DAL hosted by Linda.

Toor dal is 'the' dal used in my home as long as I remember..and so making this rasam was my first choice.

You need:

1/4 cup Toor Dal washed and cooked to a mush

1 Tomato, cubed

2 Tsp Rasam Powder (recipe at the end of the post)

1 tsp Tamarind paste

1 lump Jaggery

Salt to taste

1-2 tbsp Oil

1 tsp Mustard seeds

1/4 tsp Asafetida

2 Dry Red Chillies broken

Toor dal Water ( add extra water while cooking the dal and take off the water before mashing the dal)

Finely chopped cilantro to garnish

Heat oil , add the mustard seed. After they pop, add the asafetida, curry leaves, red chillies and tomato. Cook till the tomato is soft and mushy. Add toor dal water (add plain water as well depending on the consistency you want) and let it all come to a rolling boil.

Add the tamarind pulp, jaggery and salt.

Add the rasam powder and the cooked toor dal..

Boil the rasam for a good 5-7 mins. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

This rasam is my soup on a winter evening, I sometimes make it a little thick so it can be mixed with rice as well.

RASAM POWDER:

1 cup Corriander / Dhaniya seeds

100 gms (approx. 7 tbsp) Cumin / Jeera seeds

25 gms (approx 2 tbsp) Fenugreek / Methi seeds

50 gms (I used only 3 tbsp.) Black pepper

approx 2 tbsp Asafetia

andful Curry leaves

3 tbsp red Chilli powder

Little oil

Turmeric and Salt (2 pinches each)

Heat oil in a kadhai/ wok and roast all ingredients up to curry leaves.

Cool the mixture, add red chilly powder, turmeric salt and grind to a powder and store in an airtight box.

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Tomato Rasam from the Iyer Kitchen

There are a few things that really make one feel nice, warm and comfortable... it is that way for me with rasams!

Whenever I catch a cold (or even if I do not.. ) or the weather turns nippy, like now, I like my hot bowl of rasam.. spreads a glow, if you know what I mean..

I had this friend in college who was an Iyer. Now, she used to live very near the college, which to our group translated into one thing only... when we had exhausted our supply of pocket-money and we felt mal- nourished, we would raid her kitchen. Her Mom was sporting too, and when we descended on her like a pack of hyenas, she would make us some food in a jiffy which was very tasty. On such ocassions I'd pitch in and help.. not fair having one lady cook for a dozen hungry *ahem* hyenas, is it? !!

M and I were reminiscing about old days, college days and I remembered all these little things. Smiling to myself I decided to try this out... I don't have a cold, but yearned for rasam!... do I still remember how Aunty made it? Let me try... Lets see now...... I need :

4 Med. Size tomatoes

2 dry red chilies

3-4 curry leaves

½ sp. Bengal gram (chana) daal

¼ sp. Cumin seeds

¼ sp. Mustard seeds

½ sp. Tamarind pulp

1 sp. Jaggery

2 pinches asafetida

Salt to taste

Cilantro

Blanch tomatoes in hot water. Gently peel and mash them. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a kadhai. Add the chana daal, cumin and mustard seeds, asafetida, red chilies and curry leaves. Sauté till the daal turns golden in color. Add the mashed tomatoes, tamarind pulp, jaggery, salt. Boil for a few mins.

Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro. Serve hot

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