Simply South Indian - Lentil Rasam from Karnataka

Things are moving on nicely here in Mysore, it looks like the rain should stop tomorrow and full sun for the foreseeable future.  We have also moved on from cooking trusted recipes to some from our new book, Simply South by Candra Padmanabhan, author of Dakshin another South Indian recipe book which we had pretty much made our way through.  

The title Simply South could be considered a misnomer, as these recipes are not simple and not for beginners as we had found out from Dakshin, the pastes, powders and temperings that are required are not for the faint hearted and can leave your head spinning.  And the best dishes are not always the ones that require the most effort.  That said, we were prepared and have started making our way through this book, one of the first meals we made contained a new favourite, the very delicious and aptly names Lentil Rasam from Karnataka, (the city of Mysore is in the state of Karnataka).

This dish was actually made by mistake, but there is something about the tamarind and tomato flavour that made us really happy, and I would have it all over again soon.




Lentil Rasam From Karnataka from Simply South by Chandra Padmanabhan
Serves 4 - 6


1/4 cup pigeon peas (toor dal)
1 lemon sized ball of tamarind
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp plus 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
1 sprig of curry leaves
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Spice Powder
1 tbsp oil
3 - 4 tbsp pigeon peas (toor dal)
4 dried red chilies
1 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi)
1/2 tsp musard seeds
1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing)
1/4 black peppercorns

Tempering
2 tsp ghee or oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
1 dried red chill, halved
1 sprig curry leaves

1. Wash dal and drain.  Place dal in a pressure cooker with 1/2 cup water and cook under pressure for  5 minutes, or bring to a boil and simmer  for 45 minutes.  Whisk dal and set aside.  
2. Heat oil for spice powder in a frying pan.  Add remaining ingredients for spice powder.  Fry over low heat, tossing gently till the dal turns folder and the chilies and spices are fragrant.  Cool and grind to a fine powder.
3. Soak tamarind in 3 cups of water.  Extract juice and discard pulp.
4. Pour tamarind juice into a pan and add tomatoes.  Squash tomatoes roughly.  Add whisked dal, green chilies, 1 tbsp coriander leaves, curry leaves and salt.  Mix well, place pan over high heat and bring to a boil.  Lower head and simmer for 20 mins, stirring occasionally.
5. Mix in turmeric powder and spice powder, and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring.
6. Heat ghee for tempering in a small pan over moderate heat.  Add remaining ingredients for tempering in order given.  When the mustard seeds splutter, stir contents of the pan into the dal.  
7. Garnish with remaining coriander leaves and serve with plain rice.