favourite rasam recipe – three ways

I rely on these three recipes for a twice—or thrice-weekly meal. They are the same recipe, with the exact measurements of spices; you just change the dal and vegetables.

In the first two recipes, you grind the coconut rasam mixture:

• whole moong dal with tomatoes and chard
• split moong dal with charred okra and fenugreek

While the third recipe requires no grinding, making it quicker to prepare:

• toor dal with carrots and beans

This is a good example of how one recipe can be used in many variations to create a different dish.

In these three recipes, I alternate between using:

• mung beans (whole moong dal)
• toor dal
• split yellow moong dal

note

The rasam powder can be replaced with sambar powder in all dishes.

whole mung beans with tomatoes & chard

preparation 40 minutes

serves 3 – 4

ingredients

½ cup/100g mung beans (whole moong dal)

4 cups water/1-litre

1 medium tomato(100g), finely chopped

1 cup/50g tightly packed chard leaves (can use kale/fenugreek)

2 heaped Tbsp brown sugar/jaggery

1 heaped tsp rock salt

rasam-coconut mix

¼ cup/20g dried shredded unsweetened coconut

1½ heaped tsp rasam powder (mildly spiced)

½ – 1 tsp tamarind paste

1½ cups/375ml water

voggarane

2 tsp ghee

½ heaped tsp black mustard seeds

⅛ heaped tsp asafoetida powder

10 fresh curry leaves

⅛ heaped tsp turmeric powder

preparation

1. In a heavy-based saucepan, wash the dal until the water runs clear, drain, and add 4 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a rapid simmer.
2. After 10 minutes, add the tomatoes. Simmer until the dal is soft and has broken down – approximately 30 minutes.

prepare the rasam-coconut mix

3. In an upright blender, add the dried coconut, rasam powder, tamarind, and ¾ cup water; blend for 1 minute, until smooth, then add to dal, rinsing the blender clean with the remaining ¾ cup water.

prepare the voggarane

4. In a small pan over medium heat, heat the ghee and add the mustard seeds. When the seeds turn grey and pop, add the curry leaves, asafoetida, and turmeric powder, swishing the pan around so the spices fry evenly.
5. Pour the voggarane into the dal, add salt and jaggery and stir in the chopped chard leaves.  Allow 5 minutes for the flavours to settle, the chard to soften, and the dal to thicken slightly.  Taste adding more sweet, tamarind or salt.

Serve with rice and yoghurt and drizzle with a spoon of ghee.

split moong dal with charred okra & fenugreek

preparation – 40 minutes

serves 3 – 4

This dish requires frying the vegetables, in this case, the okra, in the voggarane until nicely charred, then stirring it through the cooked dal when ready to serve. I like to keep 1 cup of the okra aside to use as garnish. This method of cooking works very nicely with green beans as well.

ingredients

½ cup/100g split yellow moong dal

3 cups/750ml water

2 heaped Tbsp sugar/jaggery

1 heaped tsp rock salt

rasam-coconut mix

¼ cup/20g dried shredded unsweetened coconut

1½ heaped tsp rasam powder (moderately spiced)

½ – 1 tsp tamarind paste

1½ cups/375ml water

voggarane

3 Tbsp peanut oil

½ heaped tsp black mustard seeds

1 heaped Tbsp channa dal

1 heaped tsp urad dal

400g okra

⅛ heaped tsp asafoetida powder

15 fresh curry leaves

⅛ heaped tsp turmeric powder

2 cups fresh fenugreek/kale/ coriander leaves – chopped

preparation

1. In a heavy-based saucepan, wash the dal until the water runs clear, drain, pour in 3 cups water, and bring to a boil. Then, reduce the heat to maintain a rapid simmer until the dal is soft and has broken down—approximately 30 minutes.
2. Top and tail the okra, cut it into 1 cm pieces, and measure out the remaining ingredients—set aside.

prepare the rasam-coconut mix

3. In an upright blender, add the rasam powder, tamarind, dried coconut, and ¾ cup water. Blend for 1 minute until smooth. Add the dal, rinsing the blender clean with the remaining ¾ cup water.

prepare the voggarane

4. In a skillet over medium-high heat, add oil and mustard seeds. When the seeds turn grey and pop, add the channa, urad dal, and fry until both dals are golden-brown.
5. Add the okra and keep everything moving in the pan until it starts to char around the edges—approximately 5 minutes. Then, turn off the heat and fold in the chopped fenugreek leaves.
6. Set aside 1 cup of the cooked okra for garnishing, and stir the remaining into the dal. Taste and add more sweet, sour, or salt if necessary.

This dish is best served immediately, as the okra can become gooey. Otherwise, keep the okra and dal separate until ready to serve. Serve with rice and drizzle with ghee.

toor dal with carrots and green beans

preparation 40 minutes

serves 3 – 4

This is the same procedure, using a different dal and vegetables. However, the rasam and coconut are added directly to the dish; no grinding is required.

ingredients

½ cup/100g dal (¼ cup toor dal + ¼ cup split moong dal)

4 cups /1-litre water

1 medium/100g carrot – finely chopped

1½ cups finely chopped beans (can use cabbage in Winter)

¼ cup/20g dried shredded coconut

1 ½ heaped tsp rasam powder (mildly spiced)

½ – 1 tsp tamarind paste

2 heaped Tbsp sugar/jaggery

1 heaped tsp rock salt

¼ cup coriander leaves, chopped

voggarane

2 tsp ghee

½ heaped tsp black mustard seeds

⅛ heaped tsp asafoetida powder

10 fresh curry leaves

⅛ heaped tsp turmeric powder

preparation

1. In a heavy-based saucepan, wash dal until the water runs clear, drain, then pour in 4 cups water, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a rapid simmer.
2. After 10 minutes, add the carrot and green beans and simmer until the dal is soft and has broken down – approximately 30 minutes.
3. Stir in the coconut, rasam powder, tamarind, salt, and jaggery, mixing to combine well. Simmer for 4 -5 minutes.

prepare the voggarane

4. Add ghee and mustard seeds in a small pan over medium heat. When the seeds turn grey and pop, add the asafoetida, curry leaves, and turmeric, swishing the pan to fry the spices evenly.
5. Pour the voggarane into the dal and stir in the coriander.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes for the flavours to settle and dal to thicken slightly.  Serve with rice and drizzle with ghee.