Mysore rasam

This is one of my favourite lunch box recipe. Mix your rice with some ghee, rasam and some potato fried curry… It has that spicy flavour and tastes good when packed.

Ingredients:
2 spoons toor dal (thuvaram paruppu)
1 spoon of coriander seeds (dhania)
1 spoon of full black pepper
3-4 dried red chillies
Just a bit of katti perungayam or powdered is also fine (katti perungayam gives a nice aroma when fried in oil)
2-3 garlic pods
1 spoon of cumin seeds (seeragam)
Ghee for frying
1 small tomato, chopped
1 lemon sized
1 heaped spoon of fresh grated coconut
Just a dash of turmeric powder

Method
1. Soak the tamarind, extract paste and keep aside.
2. Heat the ghee, and first add the toor dal. Start frying it. Once it turns little crisp add black pepper and hing. Fry for few seconds (always ensure none of them burns out).
3. Add cumin seeds, coriander seeds and allow them to burst.
4. Immediately add red chilli, garlic pods fry them.
5. Add the coconut, just stir fry and remove from flame.
6. Let this cool for sometime.
7. To the tamarind extract, add salt, little bit of hing powder, chopped tomatoes, 2 cups of water, dash of turmeric powder and let it come to a boil.
8. Once the fried mixture cools down, blend it in a mixer completely. Add water and blend it to a nice paste.
9. Add this mixture to the boiling tamarind liquid, salt to taste, little more water if its too thick. Let this mixture boil in medium to small flame until you can see yellow bubbles forming. Add a bunch of fresh and finely cut cilantro, reduce the flame.
10. Once you feel the nice aroma filling, garnish with mustard, cumin seeds fried in ghee. Yummy mysore rasam is ready.