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My Mixed Dal Rasam

This is the first time I am posting a rasam dish on this blog. This is very much as South Indian like dosa, idli and sambar. Sambar if you recall it is a lentil soup with vegetables.

Rasam however is similar to a broth and you can drink this. I got the recipe from one of these Indian food blogs to try out and however that I put my spin on it to make it mine. I pressure cooked 1/4 cup each of chana ki dal, toor dal, moong ki dal and masoor ki dal, 1 liter or 1 quart of water in the instant pot for 15 minutes.

In South Indian cooking they take dal (lentils or pulses) and sometimes rice to make components of masala (spice mix).

For the rasam masala part that I roasted and ground moong, toor, masoor and chana ki dals. I used a pinch of each dal that I had mentioned and I ground it in to a powder with a mortar and pestle and and put it in a bowl and set it aside.

I ground 1 pinch each of coriander seeds, cumin seeds and black peppercorns with 1 whole dried red chili. I used the red one and they are round. They are found in many Pakistani stores and can give a nice kick. I ground those and added them to the unfinished rasam powder to make it complete.

I added some vegetable oil to a small pot and added 1 pinch of hing, 3 curry leaves , 1 pinch each of mustard and cumin seeds and watched them crackle. I added 1 pinch more of turbinado sugar and pink salt. I stirred and added the rasam powder that I had made and set it to the side before I started the rasam. I stirred again and added 1 tiny marble size of tamarind, 1 pinch of cilantro, 1 tsp of tomato paste, 2 cups of water stirred and brought it to a boil. Add this to the cooked dal. I let it cook for 5 minutes and then it was ready to be enjoyed with dosa or idli.

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