Black Pepper Rasam II

Ingredients:

1. Coriander seeds - 4 tsp
2. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
3. Black Pepper Corns - 1 tsp
4. Red Chilies - 2 or 3
5. Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
6. Red Onion - 1 cut into small pieces
7. Garlic - 10 - 12 peeled
8. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
9. Cilantro - Some
10. Crushed Tomato - 1 cup
11. Thick Tamarind Paste - 3 tsp
12. Oil - 3 tbsp
13. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
14. Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
15. Salt - to taste

Cooking Procedure

1. In a mixer jar, first dry grind the ingredients 1 to 5 smoothly.
2. Next add items 6 to 9 and grind to paste. Keep it aside.
3. Now to a thick bottom pan, add oil and heat, when it is hot enough, add mustard seeds, wait to crackle, add asafoetida, then add the ground paste and fry,  then add crushed tomato, tamarind paste, water and salt. Bring it to boil and switch it off.

Serving Suggestions:

• It can be mixed and served as it is to the white rice or it can be filtered if one wants fine thin watery consistency. Can also drink as digestion drink.
• To taste better with rice, cook rice with little extra water, little mushy, so this rasam mixes well with rice.
• In cold weather or when suffering from cold or sore throat it can also be eaten with Sooji Upma. That is take a bowl add Upma and rasam, very thin consistency, eat like soup.

Black Pepper Rasam - I

Ingredients:

1. Coriander seeds - 5 tbsp
2. Black pepper corns - 1 tbsp
3. Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
4. Red Chilly - 1
5. Turmeric powder - a pinch
6. Asafoetida - a pinch
7. Fresh garlic pods - 7
8. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
9. Tamarind paste - to taste
10. Tomato paste - to taste
11. Salt - to taste
12. Coriander leaves chopped - 3 tsp
13. For Tampering:
1. Oil - 3 tsp
2. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
3. Red chilly - 1

Cooking Procedure

1. First, in a mixie jar, add coriander seeds, black pepper corns, cumin seeds, red chilly, turmeric powder, asafoetida, powder it nicely.
2. To this add fresh garlic pods, curry leaves, tamarind paste, tomato paste, grind it once again to a fine paste.
3. Now, add water and grind it once again.
4. Add this mixture to a big sauce pan and add lots of water, that is chaaru / rasam consistency, check for sourness and salt. At this time, you can adjust sourness by adding more tamarind and tomato.
5. Boil everything.
6. Once it starts to boil , add tampering and chopped coriander leaves.

Kitchen secrets:

• Enjoy with white rice. 
• Secret is, cook white rice with little more water than usual. That is little mushy. So that this chaaru / rasam mixes very well with the rice.

Suggestions:

• Can even drink a glass of this, steaming hot, to control the cold and chest congestion.

Cauliflower - Black Pepper Curry

Ingredients

To chop:

1. Onion chopped - 1/4 cup
2. Cauliflower chopped - 3/4 cup

To dry grind:

1. Black pepper whole - 1 tsp
2. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
3. Garlic pods - 2

To temper:

1. Oil - 3 tbsp
2. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
3. Red chillies - 1
4. Channa dhal - 1/2 tsp
5. Urad dhal - 1 tsp
6. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
7. Asafoetida - 3 pinches

Method

1. Cook chopped cauliflower with salt and as little water as possible.
2. First way is to heat a pan with water and salt, when it start to boil add chopped cauliflower and immediately switch of the stove and close the lid and leave it until it is soft and firm. Do not keep the lid closed for a long time, there is chance of getting mushy. Cool it on a plate.
3. Second way is to cook in microwave.
4. Keep it aside.
5. Heat a wide pan. Do tempering, to this add the dry ground mixture and fry for a minute and immediately add the chopped onions and fry until it is translucent. No need to fry the onions until it changes to dark brown in color.
6. To this add the cooked cauliflower, give a nice stir.
7. Yes! you are done. Enjoy with hot white rice or chapathi.

Celery-Black Pepper curry

Ingredients

1. Celery - 1 bunch
2. Ghee - 1 tbsp
3. Garlic pods - 3
4. Black pepper powder - according to your spice level
5. Salt - to taste

Method

Wash & chop:

1. Celery
2. Garlic pods

Now, heat pan, add ghee, chopped garlic pods, once it turns to slight brown, then add chopped celery, cook on medium heat until it is well cooked. Add salt and black pepper powder. Stir it. It is ready to eat.