Mysore Rasam
Another rasam from the South Indian tradition. This rasam is a much more flavorful variety of the simple rasam that lends itself to many many avatars. I don’t know why it’s called Mysore rasam, Mysore being a city in Karnataka. This recipe is based on Meenakshi Ammal’s recipe. Meenakshi Ammal was someone in my grandmother’s generation who wrote a series of cook books called “Samaithu Paar” (Cook and See), detailed vegetarian recipes that wasn’t just limited to a Tambrahm kitchen. She was far ahead of her times, and wrote these cook books for the newly wed women in her family. I love her recipes and completely relied on the 3 volumes of her recipes in the early days of our marriage, when I was in the US, and phone calls to India were expensive. I still refer to them from time to time. This is one from her collection of rasam varieties. Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients, it’s really a cinch once you gather all of them and follow the steps.
Servings Prep Time
4cups 10mins
Cook Time
15mins
Servings Prep Time
4cups 10mins
Cook Time
15mins
Ingredients
  • 1lime sized ball tamarindsoaked in warm water for about 30 minutes
  • 2medium Tomatoes
  • 1/2cup Cooked, mashed toor dhal
  • 2tsp Salt
  • 1sprig Curry leaves
  • 1/2tsp Turmeric powder
To Roast And Grind Into A Paste
  • 1tbsp chana dhal (Bengal gram)
  • 1tbsp Coriander seeds
  • 4 red chilies
  • 6-8 Black pepper corns
  • 2tbsp fresh/frozen grated coconut
  • 1sprig Curry leaves
  • 1/2tsp ghee/oil to roast the spices
To Season
  • 1tsp ghee/oil
  • 1tsp Mustard seeds
  • 1/2tsp black peppercorns
  • 1/2tsp Cumin seeds
  • 1/2tsp Hing
Garnish
  • 1cup cilantro leaves
Instructions
  1. Soak the tamarind (puli) in two cups of warm water, and extract the juice; gather the spices to roast and grind
  2. Add two more cups of water, chopped tomatoes, salt, curry leaves, turmeric and set it to boil
  3. While it’s boiling, heat the ghee/oil mentioned in “To Roast And Grind” in small kadai/vaanali. When it’s hot, add the spices starting with the chana dhal, followed by the coriander, curry leaves and chilies. When they’re toasted to a nice reddish aromatic brown, add the coconut and fry everything together until the coconut is also toasted to a golden brown
  4. When the spices are cool enough, blend with a little bit of water to a fine paste
  5. After the tamarind boils for about 10 minutes, add the blended spice paste and let it boil for a few minutes
  6. Now mash the cooked dhal, and add some water to it if needed and add to the boiling rasam
  7. The rasam will get nice and frothy once you add the dhal water, in a couple of minutes. Add the cilantro at this point, and take it off the heat
  8. Heat the seasoning oil/ghee and when hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin and pepper and pour over the rasam