Khana Priyam: Pepper - Cumin Rasam (Milagu

Pepper - cumin / மிளகு - ஜீரகம் rasam is a quick and tangy South Indian soup made from tamarind, pepper-cumin and garlic. This rasam is good for digestion. A common ailment that kids and adults have during this season is cold and flu. A few home made techniques can give us a little bit of relief.

"Milagu rasam chaadham" is a very good lunch for postpartum (new moms) as it doesn't call for any spice powders. Just skip the toor dal for postpartum moms. My mom was so strict with the postpartum diet and she was not ready to include even tomatoes in my diet. Just pepper, garlic, ghee and little salt along with leafy greens and vegetables was my food for 3 to 4 months, back in 2017. Anyway, let’s move on to the recipe.

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 minutes

Ingredients :

Tamarind - small lemon sized ball or Home-made Tamarind Paste

Cilantro stem. - a handful

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Hing powder - 1 tsp

Rock Salt - to taste

Whole black pepper - 1.5 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1.5 tsp

Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp

Toor dal - 1 tbsp

Garlic. - 2 to 3cloves

Ginger. - a very small piece ( 1/4 inch )

Curry leaves - 2 to 3 leaves

For tempering: (TADKA)

Ghee - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves - Few

Garnish : Cilantro

Serves - 2 to 3 people.

Procedure :

1. Soak pepper, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, toor dal, ginger, garlic and curry leaves for 15 minutes. Similarly soak tamarind in hot water for 10 to 15 minutes and extract the juice.

2. Grind the soaked ingredients and keep aside. Keep the extracted tamarind juice separately, measure the other ingredients and keep it ready.

3. Boil the tamarind juice. Once it starts boiling, add turmeric powder, hing, salt and the cilantro stem. Close it and let it boil for 5 minutes so that the raw smell of the ingredients goes off.

4. Finally, add the grounded paste to the boiling water and allow it to boil for a few more minutes.