Today I made some garlic rasam for lunch. This is a south Indian
spiced broth, traditionally drunk as an apertif, or mixed with rice.
Or both, like I did. It's somewhat labor intensive.

garlic:
3-5 cloves garlic
oil

spice paste #1:
1/2 tsp black pepper (3/4 tsp if omitting long pepper)
2 tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp long pepper
1-2 tsp chana dal
2-3 dried red chilies, pinched into pieces
oil

tamarind water:
1 tsp tamarind paste
4 cups water
curry leaves, pinched into pieces
1-2 tsp salt, to taste

spice paste #2:
1 tsp cumin seeds (raw)
curry leaves
water

finish:
1 tsp ghee
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 dried red chili


In a little oil, fry the garlic cloves till well fried and thoroughly
cooked.

In a little oil, fry the spices for spice paste #1.
Let these cool on some paper towels, then pat off any excess oil.
Grind them to a powder/thick paste, and set aside.

Dissolve the tamarind paste in a little water, and add to the water.
Add the salt, curry leaves, and garlic cloves, and bring to a boil.
Add spice paste #1.
Reduce the heat, and simmer till the raw tamarind smell is gone.

Meanwhile, grind the cumin seeds and curry leaves with a little water
to make a paste.
Add to the rasam, and remove from heat once it froths up.

Fry the mustard seeds and chili in ghee till the seeds start to pop.
Pour onto the rasam.


The garlic cloves are mostly just there to add flavor, and don't
overwhelm the dish. They don't need to be eaten unless you want to.
I ate mine with yogurt rice (just what it sounds like -- rice mixed
with yogurt) in the course after having had the rasam with rice.


Variations: If you leave out the garlic, it's called pepper rasam.
You can add some of the liquid from cooking toor dal, in that case, to
add a little body.


Enjoy,
N.