Lemon Rasam

"The Hundred Foot Journey" is a movie about an aspiring cook who wants to work at a french restaurant. The matriarch,  played by one of my favourite British actors, who runs the restaurant has a simple test for the applicants. She asks them to make an omelette.

One would wonder what is so complicated about making an omelette that a chef needs to clear such a task in his job interview. But how innovative one can be with the combination of spices and flavours, how long the omelette needs to cook on the pan, how much oil to use, everything counts.

Drawing parallels to that movie, I have always considered Rasam, the quintessential part of South Indian cuisine, as the benchmark of how good a cook one is.

Personally it is my comfort food. Rice and rasam, with a spoon of ghee and side of papad is just what I would love when I am feeling under the weather.  Even for babies that start off on solids, we beat rice and dal, and add a few spoons of rasam to smoothen the mix. That childhood taste is probably what makes it a comfort food for most of us.

Every one has their own version of good rasam.

A friend of mine used to say, "ரசம் இலுப்பை சட்டியில தான் பண்ணனும். கொதிக்கும் போது வேளாவனும். அப்போ தான் நல்லா ருசியா வரும்"

Translation: Rasam has to be boiled in a heavy bottomed iron vessel. And when it comes to a boil, it has to be stirred a few times. Only then it gets tasty.

That is her version of good rasam.

So back to my version, there has to be dal (no two ways about this) and something tangy preferably, yes you got that right, juice of a lemon!

I typically make this on Sundays. Even if I am not making rice for lunch, I still make a bowl of lemon rasam to be consumed as soup.

Recipe (Serves 4)

Ingredients

Toor Dal - 1/4 cup
Tomato - 1
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Garlic - 4-6 cloves
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste

For tadka (tempering):
Oil - 1/2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Whole Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 6-8
Dry red chillies - 2 broken in halves

Coriander - finely chopped for garnishing

Juice of half a lemon - for the final flavour

Method

• Boil toor dal with turmeric powder until soft and of mashable consistency. Allow to cool.
• Use the mixer or food processor in pulse mode for a couple of seconds to make a smooth paste of the dal.
• Mash the tomato, garlic and ginger into a fine paste.
• Heat a heavy bottomed kadai, and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, chillies and curry leaves.
• When the mustard seeds splutter, add the tomato paste.
• Add the pepper and cumin powder and salt. Allow the paste to cook well until the raw smell disappears.
• Add the dal paste and sufficient water. I usually add about 2 cups. Give it all a stir and let it all come a boil.
• Take it off the heat, transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with coriander leaves and squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the rasam.
• Tada, your tangy dal-based rasam is ready!!! 

Feel free to gulp down  a few spoonfuls while you taste it, but be careful not to burn your tongue else you will be sorry as you cannot taste anything for the rest of the day.

Verdict: Piping hot rasam, whether served as soup or with rice is a welcome addition at my home. While I was writing this post, my little one looked at the picture and said, "Ma, from tomorrow onwards can you please add rasam to my rice?". This is the highly picky child who has stopped mixing even ghee into her rice and eats plain white rice, with veggies or salted peanuts on the side. No amount of verbal persuasion changed her mind, but the picture above did. There you go! You have the verdict...