Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Rasam (Obbattu Saaru)

Many people I have met often ask me the recipe for rasam. Rasam does not have a single standard recipe and each person makes it differently. In fact the way a person makes rasam becomes her signature. Most cooks are judged solely by the quality of rasam they make. Apart from this, one more thing we need to understand is that there are at least around 20 varieties of rasam. I make a few of them at home, most of them improvised versions of the existing recipes.
This one is called obbattu saaru. My m-i-l makes it whenever she makes obattu (holige/poli). Obattu filling is made by boiling dal and grinding it with jaggery and coconut. The water drained after boiling dal is used to make this rasam. I really love this rasam and cannot wait for the day obattu is made for having it. So here's my version.

Ingredients:
  1. Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
  2. Garlic - 6-7 pods
  3. Red chilles - 3-4
  4. Pepper - 1 tsp.
  5. Jeera - 1 tsp.
  6. Tamarind - the size of a small lemon.
  7. Oil/Ghee - 2 tsp.
  8. Mustard - 1/2 tsp.
  9. Salt - to taste
Procedure :
  1. Boil the dal along with water in a cooker (can be cooked along with rice). If the dal can be completely mashed into a paste, mash it. If the dal is whole even after cooking, drain the water and use for rasam and use the dal for some other dish. This depends on the quality of dal.
  2. Extract the tamarind pulp using warm water.
  3. Roast pepper, jeera and red chilles in oil ( or dry roast them). grind them along with garlic pods. Add this masala to the above and boil until the raw smell of tamarind is gone.
  4. Add dal/ dal-water to the above and add salt.
  5. When the rasam boils, season with mustard/jeera in oil/ghee.
  6. If this rasam is made along with obattu, we can add a lemon-sized amount of the obattu filling to the rasam. It will give it a sweetish taste. On other days, if you like the sweetish taste, you can add a small piece of jaggery.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Paneer Capsicum Bhurji

Ingredients:
  1. Crumbled Paneer - 1/2 cup
  2. Capsicum, Onion, Tomato - 1/2 cup each (very finely chopped)
  3. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp.
  4. Jeera - 1 tsp.
  5. Green chilles - 2-3 (very finely chopped)
  6. Oil - 3-4 tsp.
  7. Garam masala - 1/4 tsp.
  8. Salt - as per taste
Procedure:
  1.  Heat oil in a kadai. Season with Jeera.
  2. Add ginger garlic paste and chopped onions and fry for 2-3 minutes.
  3. Add greem chillies and chopped capsicum and cook for 5 minutes till capsicum becomes tender.
  4. Add chopped tomatoes and cook further till the whole mixture turns slightly pulpy. Add a little water for cooking if required.
  5. Add salt and garam masala.
  6. Add the crumbled paneer and fry for around 5 minutes so that all the water evaporates and the raw smell of paneer is gone.
  7. Serve with phulkas.