Lemon Pepper Rasam

Ingredients

• 2-3 tablespoons ‏Sarda Farms Ghee
• 3-4 tablespoons ‏Toovar Dal (split pigeon peas)
• 1 teaspoon ‏black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ‏cumin seeds
• 2 garlic cloves, ‏peeled and crushed
• ½ teaspoon ‏Turmeric powder
• ¼ teaspoon ‏hing (Asafoetida)
• 10-12 ‏curry leaves
• ‏Salt to taste
• ‏Juice of 1-1 ½ lime
• ‏Chopped fresh coriander leaves for garnish

Method

Wash and pressure cook the dal with 3 cups of water, turmeric powder and few drops of ghee till the dal becomes soft. (about 2 whistles and 15 minutes on low heat)

Meanwhile dry roast the pepper and cumin in a pan on low heat.

Cool and crush them coarsely in a mortar and pestle.

In a sauce pan heat 2 tablespoons of ghee.

Add the crushed pepper, cumin, curry leaves, garlic, hing and saute for a few seconds.

Carefully add the cooked dal along with the water.

Add salt, bring the rasam to a boil and cook on low flame for 2 minutes.

Take it off the heat.

Squeeze lime juice, mix and serve immediately garnished with coriander leaves.

Top with 1-2 teaspoons of ghee (optional)

Notes: This recipe makes watery, thin consistency Rasam, perfect to be served as a soup. Reduce the quantity of water (1 ½-2 cups) or increase the quantity of dal, to make it thicker, if you would like to serve this along with hot steamed rice.

You can prep in advance by cooking the dal, which can be refrigerated for 2 days. You can also roast the pepper, cumin in advance. Crush and store for 5-6 days in an airtight container. If you have both these things handy, the rasam hardly take 5 minutes.