Tomato Rasam with Drumsticks

Recipe Credits:

My mom-in-law 😊


Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 2

Garlic - 2 cloves

Small Onions - 4

Drumstick - 4 to 5 pieces (1.5 to 2 inch pieces)

Tamarind Extract - 1 tsp (optional)

Rock Salt - 1/2 tbsp or as needed

Asafoetida - 1 big pinch

Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp

Curry Leaves - 3 to 4

Cumin Seeds - Few

Oil/Ghee - 1 tsp (to temper)

Finely Chopped Coriander Leaves - 1 tsp

Rasam Powder - 1 tsp

Water - 1½ to 2 cups



Procedure:

Wash and cut tomatoes into two halves.  Peel skin of garlic cloves and small onions.

Cook cut tomatoes, garlic cloves, small onions, and drumstick pieces.  I normally place them in a separator and pressure cook along with rice.

Remove the skin of the cooked tomatoes.  Grind them along with cooked garlic cloves and small onions to a smooth paste.

In a cooking bowl or kadai, add the ground tomato paste, water, cooked drumstick pieces, salt, rasam powder, tamarind extract, and a pinch of sugar or jaggery if desired.  Bring to a boil.

In a tadka pan/ladle, heat oil or ghee and temper mustard seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves, and cumin seeds.  Add this to the hot rasam and let it sizzle.

Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot with cooked rice.

This rasam is very flavorful with the tanginess of tomatoes and the aroma and flavor of drumsticks.  Can you look at those drumstick pieces peeping out??

Colocaesia Crispy Fry/Chembu Roast

Ingredients:

Colocaesia (Seppankilangu/Chembu/Arbi) - 1/2 kg
Oil - To deep fry
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp





Method:

Wash thoroughly the colocaesia.

Pressure cook them in a cooker separator plate while cooking rice.  If cooking separately, pressure cook for 2 whistles with just enough water.

When the pressure of the cooker is completely released, remove the cooked colocaesia and pour cold water over.  Leave for 5 to 10 minutes.

Peel the skin of the colocaesia and cut them into pieces.

Refrigerate the cooked colocaesia pieces for 10 minutes.  This step is optional.

Heat oil in a kadai and deep fry the colocaesia pieces until golden brown and crisp.

Remove from oil and drain the excess oil.

Sprinkle salt and chilli powder over the fried colocaesia and mix.

Serve hot.



This crispy fry is crunchy on the outside and soft inside.  Serve with sambar rice or with rasam or can be had as such as crunchy bites.

Carrot Dosa

Ingredients:

Raw Rice - 1-1/2 cups
Carrots - 4 (chopped)
Red Chillies - 5
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Onion - 1 (medium sized, optional)
Rock Salt - 1-1/2 tsp


To Temper:

Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry Leaves - Few


Method:

Wash and soak raw rice in 3 cups of water for a minimum of 1 hour.

Grind the soaked rice along with chopped carrots, red chillies, cumin seeds, chopped onion (optional), and salt using the soaked water fully.  Grind to a smooth paste.  The dosa batter will be dilute.  Add more water if necessary.

Then, temper mustard seeds and curry leaves in oil and add to the dosa batter.

Take a ladle full of dosa batter and pour on a hot tawa smeared with little oil in a circular motion starting from the outer edge moving towards the center as done for Rava dosas.
  
Close with lid and allow to cook.  After a minute or so, when the dosa starts leaving the edges, turn over, and drizzle oil all around.  Allow to cook for a minute.  It should not be roasted too much unless you like them to be very crispy.  These dosas taste good if soft and not too crisp.

Remove from the tawa and serve hot immediately with an accompaniment of your choice.  I served with Red Onion Chutney which is always very handy for me.

Soft and thin dosas with the goodness of carrots is a quick and easy breakfast idea.

Notes:

Tamarind, little more than gooseberry size, can be added while grinding the dosa batter if you relish the tangy taste of the tamarind.  I did not add.

Carrots can be replaced with beetroots to get red colored dosas.

This dosa should be poured immediately after grinding and should not be allowed to ferment.

Raw rice can be substituted with millets - thinai, samai, varagu etc. either half and half (half of raw rice and half of millets) or in full.

When doing on a "no onion" day, avoid the onion while grinding the ingredients.