Curry leaves - 8~10
Method:
Pressure cook the dal and veggies until tender using enough water. Alternately dal can be pressure cooked and veggies can be cooked separately in the microwave.
Grind coconut, cumin seeds, green chilies and rice to a smooth paste adding just enough water.
Once the dal and vegetables are cooked through, add the ground paste, turmeric and salt; let it come to a boil. Cook for about 10 more minutes till the kootu reaches the desired consistency.
Heat 2tsp oil in a small saucepan; add the urad dal, mustard seeds, dry red chilies and asafoetida/ hing. Once the seeds start to splutter, add the curry leaves and add this to the simmering dal.
Tomato Rasam: Tamilians sure know how to make a mean rasam. So I just followed Sandhya's recipe for rasam and it sure was super tasty.
Ingredients:
Tomato - 1 large, chopped
Tamarind paste - 1tbsp
Green Chili - 1, chopped
Toor dal - ¼cup
Rasam Powder/ Sambar powder - 1tsp
Asafoetida/ Hing - ¼tsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - ½tsp
Cilantro - 2tbsp, finely chopped
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Method:
In a sauce pan; combine tamarind paste, chopped tomato and green chili and 1 cup of water. Heat on medium-low flame. Add the rasam/ sambar powder, asafoetida, salt and sugar and let the mixture come to a boil partially covered and simmer for about 10~15 minutes or until the liquid reduces to half of its quantity.
In the meantime, pressure cook the toor dal until very soft and mash it well with 1~2 cups of water.
Once the rasam boils well, add the mashed dal to the saucepan and also add the cilantro leaves.
Let the rasam come to a soft boil, just until it froths up. Do not let the rasam boil too vigorously. Turn off the flame.
In another small saucepan; heat 1tsp ghee and add the mustard seeds. Once the seeds start to splutter, add them to the rasam and keep it covered until ready to serve.
