Dal rasam is a spicy rasam, made with tomatoes and pigeon pea lentils. This dal rasam warms the body and is excellent when one has bouts of cold, chill and cough.
In this dal rasam, cooked pigeon pea lentils is simmered in freshly roasted and ground spices with tamarind pulp. So, the cooked dal gives some thickness and texture to this soup like drink and the spices lend their aroma, warmth and flavour along with the sourness from the tamarind.
The spices are roasted and then ground to a semi coarse or fine powder. Later to be tempered with mustard, curry leaves and dry red chilies along with the freshly ground rasam powder. This tempered mixture is then added to the cooked dal and simmered with tamarind pulp and some water.
You don’t need rasam powder to make this dal rasam. This rasam is best served with steamed rice. You can drink it plain like a soup also. At home I always serve rasam with rice.
Now, over to the recipe….
Ingredients
- ½ or ⅔ cup Pigeon Pea Lentils / Tuvar Dal
- 1 tsp. Mustard seeds
- ½ tsp. Urad Dal, split and skinned (optional)
- 1-2 dry Red Chillies
- 1 pinch Asafoetida/Hing
- ¼ tsp. Turmeric powder
- 1 to 2 cups Water or add as required
- 1 tbsp. Tamarind soaked in ½ cup water
- 10-12 Curry leaves
- 2 tbsps. Oil
- Salt, as required
For dry roasting and grinding:
- 2-3 dry Red Chillies
- 8-10 Fenugreek seeds
- ½ tsp. Black peppercorns
- 1 tsp. Cumin seeds
- 2 tsp. Coriander seeds
Method
- First take all the whole spices required to make the rasam powder.
- Dry roast in a medium hot frying pan till the spices are browned and become fragrant.
- Once they are cooled, in a dry mixer grinder, grind these spices to a semi coarse or fine powder. Keep aside.
- Soak the tamarind in ½ cup of water for 40 minutes. Later squeeze the tamarind pulp and keep aside.
- In a pressure cooker, cook the dal till they are completely cooked and soft.
- With a spoon or wired whisk, mash the dal lightly.
- In another pan, heat oil. Add the mustard seeds and urad dal.
- Fry till the mustard seeds start crackling and the urad dal becomes golden.
- Lower the flame and add the curry leaves & dry red chillies and fry for few seconds.
- Now add the turmeric powder and asafoetida. Stir and add the roasted ground rasam powder.
- Next add the above tempered mixture to the dal or add the dal to this mixture. Stir and mix thoroughly.
- Add the tamarind pulp. Stir well.
- Simmer for 7 to 8 minutes or till you see a frothy layer on top on a low or medium flame. The raw aroma of the tamarind also has to go away.
- Garnish the dal rasam with coriander leaves and serve hot, plain or with some steamed rice.
