Pepper Rasam Recipe | Easy Milagu Rasam Recipe

Pepper Rasam or Milagu Rasam is my mom-in-law's specialty. I have always associated pepper rasam with being sick. It's not a very positive way at looking at it but that's just the way it's been so far. What I am sharing today is my mom in law's Papper Rasam recipe which is made not only when someone is sick but also when you crave something simple and spicy for lunch along with a basic vegetable kootu or cabbage poriyal.

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
¼ teaspoon 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
½ tbsp of jeera / cumin seeds
A few curry leaves
To temper:
2 tsp of ghee
¼ 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 ¼ teaspoon 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!