Cumin Pepper Rasam/ Jeera pepper rasam

This rasam is quick to make but rich with its benefits & taste. It works aa a great remedy for the dry cough lasting long after a common cold.  It can be served as soup to sip or as a side dish for rice. I am a person; get my throat infected soon due to pollution & weather conditions, normally in winter. This rasam recipe was a suggestion by my sister, and it helped too. We used to have this on regular basis in her house. My husband is a big fan of soups and rasam.    

Simple meals with rasam

Now let us look at the part of making it!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

Tomatoes – 3-4

Tamarind – Small lemon sized, soaked in water

Jeera/Cumin – 1 spoon

Red chilli – 1-2 or as per spice requirement

Pepper – 10

Jaggery – small piece

Garlic – 5-6

Mustard seeds – ½ spoon

Oil/Ghee – 1 spoon

Coriander leaves – For garnishing (Optional)

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Method:

• Wash tomatoes, cut and keep aside.
• In a dry grinder/ mixer jar, take cumin, pepper and dry red chilli and grind to make coarse powder, without adding water. Transfer to a bowl, keep aside.
• Grind tomatoes & tamarind to make smooth puree.
•  In a vessel, add 5-6 cups of water, put the tomato & tamarind paste and switch on the stove to boil this. Add jaggery & crushed garlic to it.
• Add the pepper – cumin powder, salt and boil it to 5-6 minutes.
• Heat ghee or oil a kadai/ pan, add mustard seeds to it. When it starts spluttering, add cleaned curry leaves & switch off the stove, add to the rasam.
• Garnish the rasam with chopped coriander leaves. Serve as soup to sip or with rice as side dish.

Notes:

• This is a perfect soothing drink for our throat & tummy in the monsoon which can fight with the common issues like cough & cold.
• You can adjust the measure of pepper & chilli as per the required spice level.
• Optionally, you can add precooked & mashed tur dal to make the rasam thicker & richer.