Tomato Garlic Rasam

Recipe:

– Tomatoes – 3 medium sized

– Garlic – 3 to 4 cloves very finely chopped & crushed

– Green Chillies – 4

– Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

– Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

– Sugar/Jaggery – 1 tsp

– Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp

– Red chilli powder – 1 tsp

– Salt – 1n1/2 tsp or to taste

– Curry leaves – 10 to 12

– Coriander/Cilantro

1. Take tomatoes chopped into half in a pot with about 4 to 5 cups of water. Boil until the tomatoes are very tender.

2. Once the tomatoes are done, you can peel off the skin and squeeze out the tomatoes for the juice. To be quicker, I like to use the blender. I drain off the water into a separate bowl (we’ll use this later) and then take the tender tomatoes in the blender. 

3. Add green chillies, coriander, red chilli powder, turmeric, salt, sugar/jaggery and finely chopped garlic to the tomatoes and blend all into a nice smooth juice.

4. Now, add this to the water that we kept aside after boiling the tomatoes. (You don’t have to use all the water kept aside. Make sure the rasam is not very watery or we’ll miss the tomato taste.)

5. For the popu/tadka/tempering, heat about a tsp of oil and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves and roast for a minute or two. (You can also add the garlic to the popu instead of blending it with all other ingredients.)

6. Finally, add the popu and we have a hot and spicy tomato garlic rasam ready.

Serve with some rice or serve it as a soup for some quick relief from common cold and sore throat.