Rasam & a magical spell

Illustration by Sophia Katharina x The food & love project

Story and recipe by Kriticaa @kriticaa.prakash:

Sensual Rasam

To perfect a sensual rasam is like magic that repeats itself several times and still stays as magic forever.

Rasam is a delicacy from the south of India, which serves as a delight in a full course meal. She has in her the rasa, the essence of all the aromatic spices of the world.

Pepper that lured all the western explorers to find their way and come for her.

Cumin, faithful and potent with goodness.

Red chillis that add their own twist to every recipe.

Garlic, pungent and strong.

Rasam comes towards the end of a meal, just right before we finish a sumptuous meal with curd. She perfectly blends all the flavours and tastes on your plate with her pure essence and presence.

After rasam, you don’t want to move ahead. She holds you captive in her magical spell. She heals you from within.

Rasam finds her way as a healer during times of fever, cold, indigestion and even depression. She is complete. She is mystical.

For one to perfect her needs absolute surrendering to her. You cannot hurry with her. I have grown up with her smell and her gracious invitation has never failed to melt my heart. I have had the Rasams of some of the most beautiful cooks, my grandmothers. They have been lucky to get rasam, pay them a visit. A rasam that spreads her aroma is like all the spices coming together to thank this world to make it possible for them to give out their deepest purest essence. I get carried away by her way too much so let me move to the recipe now. There is no standard recipe for a rasam. One has to let their senses play, touch and feel the ingredients, trust your intuition and go with the flow.

I have over the years experimented with many recipes, each time it is different but the below is pretty much what it calls for and the rest you figure it out but shhhhhh I give you one secret “ don’t let the Rasam boil, let it froth up.”

Cook time: 20-30 mins

Serves: 3 to 4

Ingredients

1 small lemon sized tamarind

1 medium-sized tomato

2 cups water

Half a cup of warm water to soak the tamarind

10 curry leaves for seasoning

2 pinch asafoetida

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

2- 3 dry chillies deseeded and broken into halves.

2 spoons chopped coriander leaves

2 teaspoons oil

Salt as required

Spices needed to be grounded

2 teaspoons black pepper

3 teaspoons cumin

6 to 7 garlic cloves

Method

Initial preparation

1. Soak the tamarind in a half a cup of warm water for 10 mins.

2. Squeeze the pulp from the tamarind, strain and keep it aside.

3. In a dry mixer/coffee grinder, powder the cumin, pepper, red chillis and garlic to semi-coarse consistency.

Making the rasam

1. Heat 2 teaspoon oil in a pan, crackle the mustard seeds.

2. Add the curry leaves and red chilis, fry for just a few seconds until the red chillis deepen their colour.

Make the whole cooking on low flame, so the spices don’t burn.

Our work is to let the spices give out their aroma in the heat.

3. Add the chopped tomatoes and saute till the tomatoes soften.

4. Add the grounded semi coarse mixture.

5. Add the tamarind pulp that was extracted and stir.

6. Add water, salt and stir well.

7. On low flame, just let the rasam gently boil and keep it uncovered. DO NOT let the boiling bubble up. Add Asafoetida just two pinches.

8. All the spices would froth up and when you see a brownish white froth on the top, turn off the gas.

9. Season it with chopped fresh coriander leaves.

Here she is, you can drink this as a soup or have it with hot rice accompanied with any stir-fried vegetables or papad.