Godu Saaru/Meelagu Rasam/Pepper Rasam

This recipe is passed on to me by my mother. My mom is a phenomenal cook. She has immense passion for cooking; she comes across a new recipe she has to come home and try it immediately. She is a great inspiration and at this age she has the energy to make all kinds of powders and chutneys for me. This recipe is one of my favorites.My mom makes this when we are down with fever or cold or when the weather is chilly. One glass of rasam (this is not brandy :-)) will releive you of your cold. My mom makes this in a very special vessel called "Seesthapathare". There is no hard and fast rule that this rasam has to be made in this particular vessel, it tastes good anyways. In south India most of the households will have this vessel. There is a different kind of vessel for sambar and rasam. And if made in these vessels it has an authentic taste to it. The vessel already contains asatefodia (hing) in it. The vessel is very expensive; a small vessel costs about Rs.800. If left on a flame for long, it melts off.

Now coming back to the recipe. Below are the ingredients.














Ingredients:
1 Large tomato or 2 small tomatoes
1 tbsp Cumin
1 tbsp Peppercorns
1 tbsp Toor Dal
1 tsp Tamarind Paste (or half lemon size tamarind soak in water and extract the juice)
3-4 Curry Leaves
Pinch of haldi
Little hing
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Seasoning:
Mustard Seeds
Cumin Seeds
Ghee

Method:
1. In a vessel add diced tomatoes, curry leaves, tamarind paste (or juice), turmeric, hing and salt. Fill 3/4 of vessel with water and keep on low flame and allow it to slowly boil. 2. Grind peppercorns, toor dal and cumin to a fine powder. No need to roast this. 3. Once nicely boiled, add the powder and mix nicely make sure there are no lumps, add water till the brim, add coriander leaves and boil nicely for 5 mins. 4. Once done take ghee in a small kadaai, add mustard seeds and cumin and pour on the rasam. 5. Garnish with coriander leaves.