Pepper Rasam is quite unique in some ways though. MIL adds garlic in her milagu rasam (which is avoidable if you want don’t take garlic) and adds no toor dal which again you can play around with.
Pepper Rasam (Milagu Rasam) Recipe
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 lemon-sized ball of tamarind
3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled and slightly crushed
1 generous pinch of hing / asafoetida
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
1 tomato, chopped
Salt to taste
To dry roast (roast without oil)
2-4 dry red chillies
2 tbsp of channa dal / kadala paruppu
1 tbsp of toor dal
2 tbsp of coriander seeds
1 tbsp of black peppercorns
1/2 tbsp of jeera / cumin seeds
A few curry leaves
To temper:
2 tsp of ghee
1/4 tsp of mustard seeds
How to Make Pepper Rasam:
1. Dry roast the ingredients mentioned in the list until the dals turn golden brown. Make sure you keep the flame at low and keep mixing at all times for uniform browning. If you burn anything, I’d recommend starting over since that will ruin the flavour of the rasam completely. Cool this mixture, grind to a powder, and set aside.
2. Soak the tamarind in a cup of warm water, Extract juice and discard pulp.
3. Place the tamarind extract in a pan and add the peeled garlic, hing, turmeric, chopped tomato, and some salt. Bring to a boil.
4. When the mixture has boiled for about 3 mins, add the ground spice powder. You can add half of it to begin with and taste as you go for spice and flavour. The quantity need will change depending on how strong your tamarind is and your personal preference.
5. Boil this mixture for about 20 mins until the raw smell leaves the tamarind mixture. Thrown in more curry leaves if you feel like it. I will be honest, I did it for the pictures.
6. When the rasam has boiled long enough, remove from fire and heat the ghee in a small (tadka) pan. Add mustard seeds and 1/4 tsp jeera and when they splutter, dunk the entire thing into the rasam. Adjust salt.
That’s it. Serve Milagu Rasam hot with steamed white rice and any curry of choice. I generally balance pepper rasam with some coconut-based side dish.
You can also drink Pepper Rasam straight out of a mug. Yum!
Making for the first time.
When to add water or we need just 1 cup water in which tamarind was soaked.
usually that’s enough but you can add another cup for a more watery base. just add along with tamarind water
oh my goodness, i had no idea so much work went into the humble rasam!
as an inexperienced cook, i have a question: when you say dry roast the toor dahl, do you mean after it has been soaked and boiled, or really just use the hard uncooked seeds? O.o
thank you so much
adelynn
hey there, thanks for leaving a note. i have edited the text of the pepper rasam recipe to make it clearer. dry-roasting means to roast without any oil. you would just roast the dry, hard lentils, no need to soak them which would make it soggy
Omg I love your blog! I got married a couple of months back and moved to the US, I've been craving home food ever since and your blog is home to me! I was suffering from a bad cold and I just made this Pepper Rasam! It felt so good to have something that tasted like my mother's cooking. Thank you so much!
Thnx for the wobderful recipe… Tried for the first time n turned out amazing 🙂 i jus exchaged curry leaves with coriander as its my fav ing in all my dishes…
Wow… This is the first time i tried it and it came out to be too good…. I managed to interchange curry leaves with coriander 🙂 jus cos i love putting them in all my dishes… Thnx for the wonderful recipe..
I too wonder if more than one cup of water should be added. Mine had very good flavor but was very thick.
Tried it and loved it. Thank you for the recipe
How much water does this recipe need
Traditionally this rasam is prepared without tomatoes i believe…
you are probably right. my MIL always add one tomato to pepper rasam though 🙂
I'm blind after eating this… help meeee
wow i did the same nd served my family its tasty and healthy…
Looks perfect. My mom always make it traditional – but I add garlic too and like it both ways!
tried this out and it was superb…thanks a lot,Mahima.
I am so gonna try this soon! love pepper rasam!
Looks great..love the way you have presented…that's a great comfort food for me..rice and rasam…:)
I drink it simply. It adds flavor if you add few coriander leaves. As it is not added, the rasam gives a unique appearance on the other way.
Flavourful rasam…
Like the rasam powder a lot, sounds very flavorful, love the first click! Super
Nice comforting rasam…
Oh wow mouthwatering rasam..
Yummy! I love to stay back at the table and help myself to extra servings solely to wipe the plate clean with my hands.
Super comforting food.
OMG, I haven't had this for years.. thanks for sharing this..am bookmarking it nowww.. 😀
Very nice version of pepper rasam
I am down with cold,i feel like preparingnthis right now,
wow!my mom also uses exact combination for rasam powder.we add jeera also for seasoning!