Rasam is comfort food. My maternal grandmother was from Tanjore, TN. And like all Tamil brahmins hailing from Tanjore, she was a connoisseur of rasam, an integral part of any Tamil brahmin meal. As children, my sister and I, would eat rasam not only with rice ,but also with dosai, idli, and adai. We were too fond of it! My grandmother made every meal worthwhile with her skillfully cooked rasam. A different rasam variety every day. Kandathipilli rasam is one such rasam variety that she would make once a week. A great immunity booster, it has healing properties for the stomach too. This variety of rasam is an age-old traditional dish. A meal of rasam, rice, sauteed vegetables, and papad is the ultimate energiser and comforter for me, in any weather or season. A cup of hot rasam can be used as an appetiser, main meal, or at the end of a meal. It is well known for its laxative and digestive properties. Here, I’m sharing my grandmother’s recipe for Kandathipilli rasam that I make at home once in a fortnight.
Soak tamarind in 1 cup of warm water for 15 minutes and extract the juice.
Heat ghee in a pan. Add coriander seeds, arhar dal, peppercorns, red chilli, arisithippili and kandathippili and saute till the dal turns golden brown.
Separately, saute washed curry leaves till they turn crisp.
Take all the sauteed ingredients in a mixer jar, add cumin seeds, and grind everything to a fine powder.
In a pot, add tamarind extract along with turmeric powder, salt, and asafoetida. Add one cup water and boil the tamarind extract till the raw smell subsides and you can smell the asafoetida. This will take 15 minutes.
Add the ground spice powder and mix well. Boil the rasam over a medium flame for about 5 minutes.
Add 2½ cups of water and adjust consistency and keep the flame on low till a frothy layer forms on top of the rasam and then switch off the gas.
Heat ghee in a pan, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and let them splutter. Add curry leaves and broken red chilli. Add this tempering to the rasam.
Serve it hot with steamed rice and roasted papad.
Refrigerate leftovers
1 big garlic clove can be added to the grinding ingredients. This is optional.
Arisithipilli is smaller in size (length and width) to kandathipilli. Hence the difference in the quantity mentioned in the ingredients section.
For less spicy rasam the whole dry red chilli can be omitted from the ingredients listed for the rasam paste. Whole black pepper compensates for the spice level; hence I never use red chilli though traditionally it is used when grinding the powder.
Another half cup of water can be added for a thinner consistency while making the rasam.
