Food often works as a traditional remedy to help you feel better. Whether you had a bad day, skipped a meal, or miss home, a bowl of rasam rice is enough to calm your mind and take the chaos away. Here’s a detailed recipe you can use to make your comfort food and feel better.
Between beating the traffic and endless meetings, it’s quite easy to forget the reason behind your hustle – good food and a calm life. If you feel like your life is moving at a very fast pace and you need to catch your breath, there’s nothing better than taking some time out for yourself, using cooking as a therapy, and enjoying a bowl of your comfort food.
One of the meals that feels like a warm hug on a taxing day is rasam rice. The go-to South Indian classic is nutritious, easy to prepare, and always makes you feel good. Just imagine setting up your favourite movie and lying back in bed with a bowl of hot rasam mixed with rice. A spoonful of tangy rice and soft rice will just melt in your mouth and hit you with nostalgia.
And the best part is that to make rasam, you don’t have to follow an elaborate list of steps. With the basic kitchen ingredients like toor dal, tamarind, garlic, and a blend of spices, you can whip up your comfort food in less than an hour
Read MorePressure cook toor dal with water and a pinch of turmeric. It’ll take about 4-5 whistles till the toor dal is soft and mushy.
While the dal is cooking, soak the tamarind ball in half a cup of water for about 15 minutes. Squeeze to extract the pulp and get rid of the fibre. Keep the tamarind water aside.
For the rasam powder, roast peppercorns, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and a teaspoon of toor dal for a couple of minutes. Once aromatic, turn off the heat and grind them into a coarse powder.
Next, start preparing the rasam base. Chop the tomatoes, crush the garlic, and slit the green chilli. Add them to a pot with curry leaves, turmeric powder, and hing. Pour the tamarind water and a cup of normal water. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it simmer.
In about five minutes, the tomatoes should turn soft. Once the mixture is fragrant, add the freshly prepared rasam powder and salt. Let the rasam cook for another two minutes. Adjust the consistency by adding more water.
Simmer the rasam on low heat till a frothy layer is formed on the top. When the rasam is about to rise to full boil, turn off the heat.
Finally, make the tadka by sauteeing mustard seeds in some ghee. Add cumin seeds, dry red chillies, and curry leaves. Sizzle for about 30 seconds and pour the tempering over the rasam. Cover the pot for five minutes to let the flavours meld.
Take the cooked rice, add a teaspoon of ghee and slightly mash the rice. Then, pour a ladleful of rasam over the rice and mix well. Serve the rasam rice bowl for a comforting meal.
Yes, if you don’t have enough time, you can use store-bought rasam powder. About 1.5-2 teaspoons of rasam powder should be enough.
The rasam can turn bitter if you’ve roasted the spices for too long or you’ve overboiled the rasam. Beware of these two points while making rasam to get the best results in the first try.
Rasam has a soup-like consistency and is usually made without vegetables. Sambar has a thicker consistency and is made with dal and a range of vegetables.
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