How to make Rasam

Hi..

Rasam is the most simple yet at the same time complex dish. A good Rasam should be mildly spiced,mildly sour, a faint hint of sweetness and a treat which plays on your taste buds.

I am going to give two recipes. One is more authentic. Another is the cheat's way(My Way).

Slightly Authentic :-)
Ingredients
4 Ripe Country Tomatoes
2 Cloves of Garlic Crushed
1 tsp of  Tamarind Paste
1/2 tsp of Mustard Seeds
1/2 tsp of Jeera Seeds
1/2 tsp Pepper
Few Curry Leaves
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
1/2 tsp of Ghee (Totolly Optional)
Salt

You get a loads of Rasam Powders available in stores just pick one. For a more homely taste you could use the below recipe

For the Rasam Powder
50 gms Toor dal

1/2 tsp Hing (Asafoetida)
25 gms Zeera
25 gms Pepper
Few dry Red Chilies
Few Curry leaves

Dry roast all the above ingredients and powder it. It keeps good for 15 -20 days max.

Steps:
1. Cube the Tomatoes. Boil them in a 1.5 lts of water. The skins of the tomatoes will start to peel. This takes about 15 minutes.
2. Squeeze the tomatoes to form a pulp. Push it though a sieve. Keep the liquid aside. If too strong in flavor,add more water.
3. Crush the Garlic,Pepper,Jeera and Curry leaves. Take a second and smell this mixture. Pure Heaven.
4. Heat the oil. Add the Mustard seeds. After they pop add the crushed mixture and fry for few seconds.
5.Add the Tomato Juice and the Tamarind paste. Add Salt. Give time till it comes to boil. Add 1/2 tsp of Rasam Powder.Rasam should not be boiled too much. It spoils the taste.
6. Before you turn off the stove, add a dollop of Ghee. Just for guilty pleasures. :-D

Cheat's Way
Ingredients

4 Ripe Country Tomatoes
2 Cloves of Garlic Crushed
1 tsp of  Tamarind Paste
1/2 tsp of Mustard Seeds
1/2 tsp of Jeera Seeds
1 tbsp Sesame Oil

Steps:
1. Cube the Tomatoes. Boil them in a litre of water. Add the Tamarind paste to it.
3. Heat the oil. Add the mustard and Jeera. Pop them.
4. Add the Garlic and cook for few seconds.
5.Add the Tomato Juice and the Tamarind paste. Give time till it comes to boil. Add 1/2 tsp of Pepper Powder. Add Salt and Switch off the stove.
This tastes good too. Not spectacular but good.

To Turn this into Lemon Rasam (Cheats)

Have some warm water ready. Squeeze half a lemon in it. Add the Hot Rasam into it. Lemon Rasam Ready.
Do not boil after adding Lemon juice.

Happy Cooking!!

How to make Tomato Salsa

Hey people.

I know tomato salsa sounds easy. Actually its not even qualified to be called a recipe. Lets look at the how to make it first.

Ingredients

1 Ripe Plum Tomato - Remove seeds. Dice into small cubes
1 Medium Spanish Onion (Red) - Chop Finely
1 Chili Finely chopped
1/2 Tbsp Lime Juice
Salt to taste

Steps:

Mix all the ingredients. End of Recipe. :-D

Now to the fun part. Transformation of this simple recipe.

Dish 1 - Instead of  Lemon Juice. Add curd. Great side dish for Pulavs and Biriyanis. Before serving sprinkle a touch of Red chili powder on top. It adds to the glamour of the dish.

Dish 2 - Dry roast some of the large pepper papads we get in stores. Hold the papad over the stove flame till it starts to slightly burn or just microwave it (takes 15-30 secs max). Have the salsa in a bowl. Break the papad into bite sized pieces. Use them as cutlery,scoop the salsa and just eat. The combination of the smoked    papad with the freshness of the salsa is just great.

Tip: Removing the seeds of the tomato,helps in keeping the salsa moist but not runny.

Optional ingredients ( When you are feeling special and not lazy)

Add finely chopped fresh coriander, Mint to the mixture. You could also add a little dry mango powder and Red chilli powder for extra kick.

Dish 3 - Can be used a topping over cheese crackers, Salted biscuits, Baked potato and Corn chips. It would taste great with a dollop of thick curd or if not calorie conscious, cheese spread or mayo on top.

Dish 4 - Dry toast Salted bread slices. Spread cheese. Add this as topping.

The same thing can be done with Chappatis. After adding the toppings, Roll the chappatis, cut at an angle in the middle and serve. Looks and tastes great.

Instead of cheese spread, grated cheese can be added and later microwaved for a few secs to melt it. Looks like a very simple rustic thin crust pizza.

It can just be had a simple salad. Add a little spring onions, coriander , mint to spruce it up.

This recipe is fresh, tasty, and most important easy to make.

If you have any more ways in which this can be used please do post it.

Thank you and happy cooking.

How to make Tomato Thokku.

I know its very easy and people might be thinking what a simple recipe etc. But lets aim small and reach for bigger things.

Thokku is an easy to make and tasty recipe. Simple ingredients. Fast to cook. What more can I say.

This entire recipe takes 10 minutes max. Including chopping and cooking time. It can be had with almost any main dish - Idli,Dosa,Chappathi,Rasam Rice,Sambar Rice,Curd Rice etc. For a quick and easy side dish Tomato thokku is the perfect answer.

Our veggies for the week are

1. Tomato.
There are 2 kinds of Tomatoes available here.

• Country tomatoes (Tamil : Nattu Thakkali)- These are the best. Sour to taste. Juicy. Perfect for all Indian recipes.
• Plum tomatoes ( Commoly known as Bangalore Thakkali) - Sweeter than their country cousins. Good for pastas and Jams.

2. Onions - We get different kinds of onions actually. Red, White and Rose Gold shades. Red onions in my experience have more bite and don't become too sweet after cooking.
When you add Onions to oil, it cooks, becomes sweet and turns brown. This is because the natural sugars in the onions.

3. Green Chilies - Thumb rule for all chilies - More greener it is more Spicy. When you cut a chili it releases a pungent smell. The pungency is usually a good indicator for the spiciness. The seeds contain all the hotness. So if you want milder flavors remove the seeds.

4. Garlic - Garlic is a superb ingredient. I love garlic. It adds an instant exotic flavor to any dish. Good to your health. There are a million cool health facts about garlic. For the lazy people out there like me garlic comes in various sizes. Small ones have more flavor. The impatient and lazy me prefers the big ones. They are called french garlic or Rose garlic or Mallai Poondu in tamil. They are big in size,easy to peel and you get more volume. Flavor wise they are quite mild and not over powering.

Now for the recipe-


Ingredients
2 Medium size Country Tomatoes- Finely chopped
1 Medium Onion - Finely chopped
2 Green chilies - Diced into large pieces.
2 Cloves of Garlic- Finely chopped
1 Tbsp of Oil ( Any oil will do.I prefer Gingelly Oil)
1 Tsp of Mustard and Cumin seeds
1/2 Tsp Red Chili powder
1/4 Tsp Turmeric powder
Salt to taste

Steps:

1. Heat the oil over medium heat.
2. After the oil has heated, add the  Mustard and Cumin seeds. Wait till they start crackling. Care should be taken that the cumin seeds don't burn and turn black. It should be mildly toasted and have a rick dark brown colour. If they burn they make the dish taste bitter.
3. Add the onions and garlic and fry till golden brown.
Tip: Garlic should not be fried too much. Burnt garlic gives a very acrid taste. This can be avoided by added few tea spoons of water to the mixture when the garlic starts to turn colour.
4. Add the chilies. Depending on your taste, you can either dice then into large pieces or chop them finely. If you are going for finely chop,reduce the number of chilies.
5. After the Onion,garlic and chilies have cooked (this takes approx 3 minutes), add the Dry spices (Red Chili and Turmeric Powder).  If the spiciness of the green chili is enough for you, skip the red chili powder ,just add a little turmeric for colour.
6. Add the tomatoes. Cook them till they are soft and mushy in a slow flame.
7. Give a uneven mash to the mixture and serve.

If you have time, you can garnish with freshly chopped Coriander and Mint. You can also add a tsp of  Bengal gram (Kadalai Paruppu) along with the mustard and cumin seeds. Fry the gram till golden brown.

Try it and let me know. Happy cooking.

Cooking for Dummies

Hi people..

I am planning to start a blog for people like me who want to eat good home cooked food but don't know the basics. It has been a long but amazing journey of cooking new dishes, learning from the bad ones and enjoying the good ones.

I started cooking after I got married. Initially The question "What to cook tomorrow ?" used to keep me awake at nights. Recipes over the net though yummy to look were not easy enough to make when you are rushing to office and time is limited. Innovation and fun are totally absent when you open your refrigerator and you find 4 beans and 2 old ,shriveled carrots.

The 1st mantra we need to learn is - "Cooking is NOT difficult". Rarely do kitchen accidents happen like the ones they show on TV. Most of us don't know how to even open a pressure cooker. You might think what kind of idiot does not know this. Believe me, there are a lots of simple souls out there who don't know like me.

I am planning to post a simple,easy recipes or just kitchen tips daily. Simple things like Rasam or all time favourite - Curd Rice.

As this is my first post, I will just start with a tip.

Tip: Always have Onions, Tomato,Green chilli and Garlic at home.

Through this week I will concentrate on dishes which only use the above 4 vegetables.

Thanks for your time and happy cooking..