Tomato Pepper Rasam

Pepper rasam needs no introduction, especially in South India. It not only feels good to eat during cold days, it's healthy also. Ayurveda says that. It has cumin seeds and pepper which give warmth to the body, heals stomach issues and is good for cold and cough too. So, next time you feel sick but want to eat something tasty, try this rasam. You can drink it as a soup or eat with rice and dollop of ghee. 

Of course it's easy to make and all available at home ingredients are used. 

Servings - 4

Preparation time - 5 minutes

Cooking time - 10 minutes

Ingredients

Tomatoes - 2 to 3, finely chopped

Cumin seeds - 2 tsp

Pepper - 10 to 15

Red chillies - 5 to 6, depending on type used

Green chili - 1

Ghee - 2 tsp

Mustard seeds - ½ tsp

Hing - 1 pinch

Sugar - 1 tsp

Coriander leaves 

Curry leaves

Salt to taste

Steps to prepare

1. In a pan, add cumin seeds and pepper and roast until a nice aroma comes. Just before they are done, add red chillies and roast them for half minute more.

2. After it cools down, grind into fine powder or leave it coarse if you like it.

3. Now add ghee in a pan and put mustard seeds and wait for it to crackle. 

4. Add curry leaves, green chili and hing to it. Then add tomatoes and saute until it's soft and mushy.

5. Add ground powder, salt and sugar and saute it again.

6. Pour 2 cups of water in it and let it boil for 5 minutes. 

7. Garnish with coriander leaves and rasam is ready to be served with hot rice and melted ghee.

Tips -

1. Tamarind extract can be used instead of tomatoes.

2. If you want to avoid grinding, you can skip red chillies and increase pepper quantity, crush them in a mortar pestle after roasting them.