Rasam – slurp!!! It`s my all time favourite comfort food. Even a not so intersting day is made spicy and special simply thinking of making rasam. Of all the rasams that I love, my favourite has always been the home made amma`s piping hot tomato rasam. In India of course, there is a lot of tang to the tomatoes, that amma makes tomato rasam with almost no tamarind. Here, sometimes I need the kick of tanginess from the tamarind so I do liberate myself by using the tamarind water base in the makng of thakkali rasam. On days when I get tomatillos, I use them on their own. I make this rasam in a zillion ways, but here is one of them…

INGREDIENTS:

1 big heirloom tomato/slicing tomato/2 roma tomatoes or 3 tomatillos.

1 cup of tamarind extract from a lime sized ball of tamarind.

1 spoon of Rasam Powder.

A pinch of turmeric.

A pinch of hing.

Curry Leaves.

Sprigs of Cilantro.

Salt

1/3 cup of cooked toor dhal.

2 vertically slit green chillies.

Seasoning:

A spoon of ghee, mustard seeds, curry leaves, pinch of jeera.

PREPARATION:

• In a mixer container, drop half a tomato, a few sprigs of cilantro, curry leaves and 4-5 spoons of tamarind water and grind to a smooth paste.
• Add this to the tamarind water already prepared and put in the rasam pot and place over the stove.
• Chop the other half of the big tomato in to little pieces and add to the pot.
• Slowly add salt, hing, rasam powder, little cilantro, curry leaves, turmeric and allow to simmer on medium low flame.
• It`s important that the rasam is simmered in the pot over a low flame for maximum taste.
• Take the cooked toor dhal and add a cup of water and using your fingers, mash the dhal and mix it well with the water.
• Add this watery toor dhal to the reduced rasam concentrate in the pot.
• Stir well and when you see the first boil, switch off, add the remaining sprigs of cilantro and curry leaves, the slit chillies and close with a lid immediately.
• In a small kadai, season in ghee using mustard seeds, jeera and a dash of hing and pour over the rasam in the pot.
• Serve PIPING HOT!!!