Garlic- Tomato Rasam

Rasam - means juice. But here it does not mean tomato juice. It is a good appetizer, helps good digestion and always accompanies sambar and Curd in traditional Meals. Mom's Rasam is famous among our relatives in Kerala. It is an anti-flatulent.

Ingredients:

Black Pepper: 1 tbsp
Jeera or cumin seeds: 1 tbsp
Cilantro seeds: 1 tbsp
Curry leaves: 2 tbsp
Cilantro leaves: 2 tbsp
Garlic cloves: 3 (medium sized)

To be soaked:
Tamarind: a small marble size
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
Salt: As needed
Tomato: Medium sized.
Water: 2 cups

For seasoning:
Oil: 2 tbsp
Mustard Seeds: 2 tsp
Green Chilli: 1 (split vertically)
Asofoedita: 2 pinch
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

Method:

Take water in a bowl. The water can be warm water or water taken from cooked thur dal (only water not the dhal). Soak tamarind and tomato in it for 10 mins. Add turmeric powder, and salt. Blend dry the first set of ingredients in a blender. No need to make it a paste. Add this as well to the water. When the water is lukewarm smash with hand the tomato and tamarind which would have become soft by this time so that it gets well mixed with the water and the other ingredients.

Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seed and allow it to splutter, immediately add asofoedita and cumin seeds then add green chilli (keep away when you put green chilli it may splutter) and when it comes to boil add the rasam to it and allow it to boil for two mins. Once done remove it from the flame and transfer it to a bowl and decorate with some cilantro leaves on it and keep it closed till before serving. The flavor will remain intact.

This rasam can be had with rice or sometimes drunk raw. Drinking raw helps to over come fullness of stomach and enables you to eat stomach full ( :-)

Get To Know -01

Many "taste buddies" wrote to me that they are not familiar with many ingredients that are given here. So I thought I will give either the picture of the ingredient or some information about the ingredient which may be helpful for those who are not familiar with those ingredients. I am not sure about the availability. Probably the pics should help you to find out where it could be found out.

GTK for today:

Drumstick leaves: Botanical Name Moringa Olifera. Ben oil is extracted from the seeds of Drumstick - a vegetable. I learnt that it is also called horse raddish in some places in the West (can somebody confirm this?) . The bark, root, leaves, seeds, sap, seeds, oil and flowers are all used in traditional medicine.


Photos: .ifsp-srilanka.org; stuartxchange.org.

Drumstick Leaves + Pepper # 2

This is another variant. When I was talking to mom about the post she told me that this is the most preferred way of cooking drumstick leaves for pregnant ladies.

Ingredients:

Coconut grated: 1 cup
Shallots: 5 to 6 nos (peeled)
Corriandar seeds: 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds: 2 tbsp
Black Pepper: 2 tbsp
Cumin Seeds: 2 tbsp
Garlic cloves: 5 to 6 numbers
Drumstick leaves: 2 cups (remove twigs)
Water: As needed
Salt: As needed

Method: 

Put all the ingredients except drumstick, water and salt in a blender and make it to a fine paste. Add this to a round-bottomed vessel and add water and salt and allow it to boil well. Let the raw smell of the paste is completely gone. Add drumstick leaves and allow it to boil till the leaves become tender. Remove it from flame.

Your Drumstick Leaves with Pepper is ready. The benefits are as described as in the first method. Even more beneficial.

There is another option of using baby shark instead of Drumstick leaves. Everyother things remain the same.

Baby shark that is dried and preserved with salt only. No other artificial preservatives. Not the fresh one. Make sure to use less salt since the fish is preserved with salt. Sometimes that alone may be sufffice.

Drumstick Leaves + Pepper

This is a healthy side dish. Mom says it is good to have it with rice when somebody has cold. It is also given to pregnant ladies especially during the prenatal, perinatal and postnatal period. It is said that Drumstick leaves' juice has the tendency to increase lactation and also helps in promoting labor pains.

Ingredients
Drumstick Leaves: 2 cups (remove the twigs)
Coconut : 1/2 cup (grated)
Black Pepper: 2 tbsp
Jeera/Cumin seeds: 1 tbsp
Curry Leaves: 2 sprigs (remove the twigs)
Turmeric: 1 tsp.
Garlic: 3- 5 cloves (skin peeled)
Salt: To taste
Water: As needed.
Oil: 2 tbsp

Method:
Take coconut, black pepper, cumin seeds, and curry leaves in a blender and do it till it becomes a soft paste.

Heat a round bottomed vessel with the paste put into it and add a little water to bring it to flow consistency. Allow the mix to boil well. Now add drumstick leaves to it and 2 or 3 cloves of garlic and allow it to boil well. Once the leaves are cooked add needed salt. Green leaves usually need less salt. Now the gravy is ready. It can be consumed as such. But some may prefer to season it.

For seasoning:

Heat oil in a tawa. Add mustard allow it to splutter. Crush the remaining garlic cloves and add it to the oil. Saute it till it becomes golden brown and then add this to the gravy.

This dish is rich in iron, vitamins and calcium.

Finger Millet Pakora

Finger Millet flour: 2 cups
Onion: 1 big sliced vertically
Dry Red Chilli: 4 to 5 broken into small pieces
Salt: To taste
Water: As needed
Curry Leaves: 1 sprig
Drumstick Leaves: 1 cup
Oil: For Deep frying

Method:
Add the flour, onion, red chili, salt, curry leaves and drumstick leaves and mix it well. Add salt as well. Mix it thoroughly. Now add water little by little and make it a dough.

Heat oil in a tawa/Kadai/wok. Take a fist full of dough and make small irregular shape pakoras and put it in the oil. You can also squeeze the dough, so that it escapes through the fingers and falls into the oil. (Take extra care while doing this) Fry it till the color changes to dark brown. Remove it on to a tissue to absorb excess oil and then serve hot.

It doesn't need any special accompaniment. But if you need one you can use tomato ketchup. Wonderful snack. It is a healthier dish as well

Cheesey, Peas, Potato Patties

Ingredients:Peas: 1 cup (boiled)
Potato: 2 average size (boiled)
Cheese: 1/2 cup (grated)
Corn flour: 3 tbsp
Salt: As needed
Chilli: 4 cut into small pieces
Cumin seeds: 1 tbsp
Curry leaves: 2 sprig (optional)
Cilantro: 1/4 cup (optional)
Bread slice: 2 (soak and squeeze off water)

Oil: For Shallow frying (Virgin Olive optional)

Method:
Mash peas and potato in a bowl. Add grated cheese, salt and chilli and cumin seeds and mix it well with hand. Then add soaked bread slices and corn flour and then add curry leaves and/or Cilantro and make the whole mix a dough. Take small amout of the mix and make lemon size balls. Then flatten it. You can make different shapes live hearts, elongated, oval shape. Your patties are ready. Keep all aside.

Head oil in a tawa. Place the patties in the tawa and shallow fry it. Fry it till both the sides become golden brown. Cook in medium flame. Cheesey, Peas, potato patties are ready. Tomato ketchup makes a good combination. A very nice snack.

Pappadom Vathal Kozhambu II

This is how my mom cooks Pappadom Vathal Kozhambu. This gravy is a little thicker than the other one.

Ingredients

For paste
Shallot: 10-12 (peeled)
Fenugreek seeds: 1 tbsp
Curry leaves: 2 springs
Coriander seeds: 1 tbsp
Oil: 1 tbsp
Coconut: 1 cup (grated)

To mix
Chilli powder: 2 tbsp
Coriander powder: 1 tbsp
Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp
Tamarind: 1 small lemon size (soaked in water)
Salt: As needed
Water: As needed

Pappadom: 5 medium size
Oil: For Deep frying Pappadom

For seasoning:

Mustard seeds: 1 tbsp
Coconut oil: 3 tbsp; or Virgin Olive oil
Curry leaves : 1 sprig
Red Chilli: 2


Method:

Heat oil in a tawa/wok/kadai and add all the ingredients for paste except coconut. Saute it well till the shallots turn tender. Remove it from flame. Once the ingredients come to the room temperature make it into a paste along with grated coconut. Make it into a nice paste.

Now transfer it into another bowl. Add Chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and salt to the paste and mix it well. Then add tamarind water (squeeze the tamarind well till the pulp is completely extracted. You can add extra water if needed) and mix it well. Keep this on high flame so that it boils well and all the ingredients are cooked well.

In another wok, break/tear the pappadom in to small fragments and deep fry so that it comes out crispy.

Add this crispy pappadom to the boiled mix on the flame. Allow it cook for another 3 minutes. Once gravy has got a good blend, remove it from the flame.

Heat oil in a kadai, and add mustard and allow it to splutter. Add raw chilli cut into small pieces and curry leaves, saute it for less than a minute and add this to the gravy.

Your Pappadam Kozhambu is ready. Goes well with rice, and Roti varieties.