Lemon Rasam

• 1/4 cup toor dal
• 1 cup water
• a piece of fresh ginger (2 1/2 cm, 1 in), peeled and grated
• 4 green chiles
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 3/4 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• salt to taste
• 2 tomatoes,
• quartered juice of 1 lemon
• coriander leaves, chopped to garnish

For Tempering:

• 2 tsp ghee
• 1 tsp brown mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp asafoetida powder
• 1 red chilly halved
• a few curry leaves

Wash toor dal well. Drain. Place dal in a heavy saucepan. Cover with 1 cup water and bring to the boil. When boiling, cover pan with a lid, leaving slightly ajar. Lower the heat, and simmer dal gently for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until soft. Stir several times during the last 30 minutes of cooking. (The water should be mostly gone).

Set dal aside without draining. Using a mixer, blend the fresh ginger and green chiles into a paste. Now blend or process the cumin seeds and black peppercorns into a powder. Set both aside. Place the undrained cooked dal in a heavy sucepan. Add 1 1/2 cups extra water, ground turmeric, salt to taste, and ginger/chile paste. Slowly bring to the boil.

Tempering:

Heat 2 tsp ghee in a heavy frying pan or skillet. Add mustard seeds, asafoetida powder, halved red chile, a few curry leaves, and pepper/cumin seed powder. When the mustard seeds splutter, add this mixture to the Rasam. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice. Garnish with chopped coriander. Serve hot with rice.

Variation:

Lemon Rasam

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