Rasam & Podi Recipe

Grandmother’s cumulative wisdom. Rasam powder is an aromatic spice blend that is used to make rasam. This recipe gives you a robust rasam powder that will bring a lot of flavors and taste in the rasam. 

In my opinion, making homemade rasam powder is better as you can spice it less or more. E.g you can add less black pepper or red chilies. For red chilies, I would suggest to use ones which are low in heat like Kashmiri red chilies or byadagi red chilies. Do not add red chilies which are high in heat and pungency as these will make the rasam powder very spicy and hot. I have not added fenugreek seeds in the rasam powder, but you can add a bit if you want. Some curry leaves and asafoetida can also be added.

Making rasam podi(powder) is easy. There are two ways. One is sun drying spices and the other is roasting spices. I use the second method of roasting each ingredient one by one. This gives a good aroma to the rasam powder. When any spice blend or masala is made with roasted spices, always remember not to cook it more as the flavors are lost. So after adding the spice blend or spice powder to the main recipe just cook for some minutes and not more.

Homemade spice blends or masalas are actually best as they are packed with a lot of aroma and flavors. 

INGREDIENTS (200g)

• 1 heaped cup coriander seeds or 70 grams
• 2 tablespoons chana dal or 30 grams split and husked bengal gram
• 5 tablespoons tuvar dal or 60 grams arhar dal (pigeon pea lentils)
• 2 tablespoons whole black pepper or 20 grams
• 2 tablespoons cumin seeds or 15 grams
• 15 to 16 byadagi red chilies or 20 grams or 1 cup broken dry red chilies (not chili Padi)
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder 

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Roasting rasam powder 

• Keep all the spices and lentils ready before you begin. Take a heavy kadai or a pan and heat it. Keep the flame to a low. 
• Add coriander seeds. 
• On a low flame stirring continuously roast coriander seeds till they become aromatic. Their color will also change.
• Remove the coriander seeds in a separate plate or tray.
• Now add chana dal in the kuali 
• Stirring continuously roast chana dal till their color changes and they become golden. remove and keep aside.
• Add tuvar dal.
• Stirring often roast tuvar dal till they become golden and aromatic. Remove and keep aside.
• Add black pepper.
• Stir non-stop and roast black pepper till you get their pungent aroma.
• Then add cumin seeds.
• Stirring often roast cumin seeds till their color changes and they become aromatic.
• Lastly add byadagi red chilies. I have broken the red chilies and removed the seeds. If you do this method, then you will need 1 cup broken dry red chilies.
• As soon as you add dry red chilies, quickly stir and begin to roast them till their color darkens.
• If the pan has become too hot, then switch off the flame and continue to roast in the hot pan. Roast till you see the color has changed and the pungent sharp aroma of red chilies will be felt.
• Remove roasted chilies and keep aside. Let the spices cool down completely at room temperature.

Step 2: Making rasam powder

• Then add the spices in a grinder jar. Also add 1 teaspoon turmeric powder .
• Grind to a fine powder. You can grind in two batches and then mix both the batches of ground rasam powder. 
• Add the rasam powder in a glass jar. Seal with an airtight lid. Store at room temperature. You can even store in the fridge. 
• Use rasam powder to make any rasam recipe. For a rasam of 4 to 5 servings, you can add 1 tablespoon of this rasam powder.

Step 3: Making the rasam

Next final step is to prepare the rasam itself. 

There are many types of rasam. The easiest method which you can follow is –

– soak 1 tablespoon tamarind (asam Jawa) in 1/4th cup hot water for 20 minutes. extract the pulp and keep aside.

– heat sesame oil (gingerly oil) and temper the mustard seeds, urad dal (optional), curry leaves, asafoetida and dry red chillies. you can use any neutral tasting oil or peanut oil.

– you can also add 1 small to medium tomato (crushed or chopped or pureed) with garlic cloves (Optional)

– saute for 2 minutes. 

– add the tamarind pulp.

– add 500ml water.

– add 1 tablespoon rasam powder and salt to taste.

– bring to a boil. Don’t over boil.

– switch off the flame and add 2 to 3 tablespoons coriander leaves. 

Ready to serve. It helps in digestion and immune system booster. Prevention is better than cure.