When my daughter was pregnant, I would constantly ask her what she would like to eat, to satisfy her cravings. Tadaa! The answer would be Rasam! Among all the multitude of culinary dishes that i was giving her as an option, she had to choose the humble Rasam. Well there are different types of Rasam, that members of my household demand. One prefers the pureed form and the other, the mashed form. Either ways, Rasam is an integral part of my family. My father in law used to enjoy his tiny cup of spicy Rasam, as an accompaniment to the main course and my son continuous to follow that tradition. A lovely culmination of South Indian spices and tomatoes, rasam entails a satisfaction that is beyond words and mere statements. The perfect rasam has no ingredients other than the regular one; but when done with love, the magic of this simple recipe is glorious…something that is experienced.

Folks, here is the recipe and the method of preparation. Well, Pizza Hut or MCd might have come out with a new menu. Prepare some rasam, rice and potato fry. Serve it hot with some papadams.

In my experience and assurance, your kids will come wagging with their mouths open for this all-time favorite dish.

Ingredients

Tomato—                       4

Coriander leaves—      2 tbsp

Ginger—                       ½ inch

Tamarind—                 small marble size

Turmeric powder—    ½ tsp

Asafoetida—                  ½ tsp

Sugar—                        ½ tsp

Rasam powder—       1 ½ tsp

Mustard seeds—       ½ tsp

Cumin seeds—      ½ tsp

Ghee—                      1 tbsp

Salt—                        1 tsp.

Method

Wash tomatoes and coriander leaves. Grind together 3 tomatoes, coriander leaves, ginger and tamarind together. In a deep vessel cut the remaining tomato into small pieces. Pour in the grounded pulp over the tomatoes, add a glass of water. Place the vessel over the heat. Now add turmeric, salt, asafoetida, sugar and rasam powder, to the pulp, give it a stir. Allow it to boil for 5 minutes on medium heat. Now add one glass of water and bring it to boil, when forth forms on the top but of the heat. Heat ghee in a pan, add mustard seeds, when they splutter add the cumin seed and curry leaves, when you get a nice aroma pour this over the rasam. Enjoy this tasty rasam.

Ingredients

Urdal dal—                              ½ cup ( 100 gms)

Dry red chilies—-                 9-10 nos

Asafoetida—                         2 small pieces / ½ tsp

Tamarind—                           small marble size

Fresh coriander leaves—   3 cups

Salt—                                     1  ¼ tsp

Oil—                                       2 tsp.

Method

Wash and clean the coriander leaves. Spread it over a towel. Heat a pan add the oil, fry the whole asafoetida, remove and keep aside. In the same oil fry the urdal dal and red chilies ,till the dal changes colour. Put of the heat and allow it to cool. Take a mixer jar and powder the fried ingredients. Add the tamarind, salt and add coriander leaves and powder it together.

Tasty kothamalli podi is ready.

Continuing the series of tiffin box , here’s one more recipe which can be prepared and packed in your tiffin box. Simple and quick with all the goodness of different vegetables.

PUDINA RICE

Ingredient

Raw rice—                    1cup

Pudina paste—            3 tbsp

Onion—                        1 -cut into small pieces

Corn—                           2 tbsp- cooked

Mustard seeds—          ½ tsp

Coves—                         3

Cinnamon—                 ½ inch

Bay leaf—                       1

Turmeric powder—     ½ tsp

Salt—                              1 tsp

oil—                                4 tbsp.

Method

Cook rice with ½ tsp salt and one spoon oil. Spread the cooked rice in a plate and let them cool. Heat the remaining oil in a pan, add mustard seeds when they start to splutter add the cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves and sauté them. Now add the chopped onion till the onion turns translucent.  Add the cooked corn and sauté for a minute. Now  add the pudina paste and add ½ glass of water ,  add the remaining salt and allow it to cook till you get a thick paste. Put of the heat and add the cooked rice and mix gently.

Pudina paste

For the pudina paste, grind together 1 cup of fresh pudina, 2 green chilies with 4 tbsp fresh coconut and salt.

Options

1. You can prepare the pudina paste and store it in fridge and use it as and when required. The paste has a self-life of 10 days stored in an airtight bottle in the fridge.
2. You could add grated carrots, cooked peas along with corn.
3. Millet, vermicelli or rice- vermicelli can be used instead of rice.

Tiffin Boxes are an integral part of any Indian Household. Its become a booming industry in itself. ‘What should I prepare today?’, is a constant question that one asks herself/himself (well, I believe in gender equality :p). I have been asking this question for the past 25 years and the journey of this daunting question has been continuing. Here are a couple of combinations of quick yet filling recipes, that should aid you in getting back to the old responses of “Oh inikum idhu dhaana!” (Oh the same thing yet again!).

Tomato Rice

The easiest, quickest and……

Ingredients

Raw Rice—                           1 cup

Ripe tomato—                       3

Onion—                                  1

Green Chili—                      2

Channa dal—                         1 tsp

Coriander seeds—               1 tsp

Whole pepper—                 ½ tsp

Mustard seeds—                ½ tsp

Coves—                                3

Cinnamon—                         ½ inch

Turmeric powder—             ¼ tsp

Red chili powder—               ½ tsp

Salt—                                      1 tsp

Oil—                                       3 tbsp

Few curry leaves.

Method

Cook rice with 1 tbsp oil and ½ tsp salt. Spread the cooked rice in a plate and cool it. Cut the onion into small pieces. Slit the green chilies. Bend the tomatoes. Take a pan and dry roast channa dal, coriander seeds and pepper. Remove from pan, cool it and powder them coarsely. Heat the remaining oil in a pan. Add the mustard seed when they start to splutter add the coves and cinnamon,saute. Add the curry leaves, green chilies and copped onion, saute until the onion turn translucent. Add the tomato pulp. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and remaining salt( I added ½ tsp sugar to balance the taste). Mix it and cook it for about 3-4 minutes. Now add the grounded powder ,mix well and keep cooking till you get a thick pulp. Add the cooked rice and mix well gently. Tomato rice is ready.

Options

1.Ready made tomato paste can be substituted for fresh tomatoes. Use 3 tbsp tomato  paste and ½ glass of water.

2.You can prepare the dish without onion.

3.If you are using the tomato paste and not using onion ,you could prepare the paste and store it in fridge , this saves time .

4.Millet, vermicelli or rice -vermicelli can be substituted for rice.

When one is down with flu, the one common solution that our mothers and grandmothers have, is to down a cup…sorry bowl of Milagu rasam. Here is a recipe, that is thicker and has more flavor. Milagu kozhambu is a regular in Tam Bram households, where the women would prepare it, to take a break from otherwise heavy food. This recipe is also the another part of the Curry Leaves series.

When mixed with hot rice and ghee, this kozhambu is sure to get the taste buds working apart from being the in house doctor for the sick ones. Time for some random wordplay… Crush that flu, by crush ‘in’ pepper.

Ingredients

Fresh curry leaves—                1 cup

Channa dal—                            1 tbsp

Urad dal—                                 1 tbsp

Raw boiled rice / raw rice—   1 tbsp

Whole pepper—                       ½ tbsp

Dry red chili—                          3

Mustard seeds—                    1 tsp

Asefoetiada—                           ½ tsp

Jaggery—                                1 tbsp

Tamarind—                            1 small lemon size

Turmeric pwd—                    ½ tsp

Salt—                                     1 tsp

Sesame oil—                         2 tbsp

Method

Take a pan ,heat one spoon oil and fry channa dal, urad dal, raw boiled rice, pepper, dry red chili. Once the color of the dal changes, add the curry leaves and saute for a minute. Cool it, grind all the fried items along with asefoetida, tamarind, turmeric, jaggery and salt. Now add enough water add grind to get a paste. Heat the remaining oil in the pan, add mustard seed. Once they splutter, add the grounded paste and enough water to get a gravy like that of a kuzhambu. Allow the kuzhambu to boil for 5 minutes and put off the heat. Milagu Kuzhambu is ready.

Nothing comes for free, but a bunch of curry leaves, that is literally thrown into your bag of grocery. According to me, its one of those ingredients that might just seem like a type of  leaf from the outside, but is filled with a lot of goodness. Nutritious in content, curry leaves has value even when its used in other forms such as oil and paste as a supplement for hair and the skin. Most of the Indian dishes, are tempered with this lovely ingredient. The aroma that it emanates, adds to a magical flavor to the dish.

I have put together a few recipes where Curry leaves is not an add on, but is the main ingredient. Relish and benefit!

KARUVEPPILAI TOKKU (CURRY LEAVES)

Ingredients

Fresh curry leaves—              2  cups

Dhaniya seeds—                     2 tbsp

Sesame seeds—                      1 tbsp

Fenugreek seeds—                ½ tbsp

Cumin seeds—                       ½ tbsp

Whole pepper—                    ½ tbsp

Mustard seeds—                   1 tsp

Dry red chilli—                      7-8 nos

Turmeric pwd—                   ½ tsp

Asafetida—                          ½ tsp

Jaggery—                               1 tbsp

Tamarind—                            1 small lemon size

Salt—                                     1 ¼ tsp

Sesame oil—                       5-6 tbsp.

Method

Remove the curry leaves from the stem and wash it well. Spread the leaves in a towel and let it dry.

Take a pan add one tbsp of oil and fry the whole asafetida, remove. In the same oil add daniya seeds, sesame seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, whole pepper, dry red chilli and fry well. Put of the heat add the turmeric pwd, tamarind and jaggery and give a stir. Allow it to cool. Blend all of this in a blender, adding sufficient water, add salt and blend again to get a thick paste. Heat a pan add the remaining oil , add the mustard seeds, when they start to splutter add the grounded paste. stir well, now add a glass of water, mix it all together and allow it to cook. Stir often so that it doesn’t stick to the pan. Slowly you will see oil comes out and the paste is thick. Put off the heat. Your spicy

Karuveppilai thokku is ready.