Paruppu Rasam | Dal Rasam | South Indian Lentil Soup

Rasam is a staple and comfort food of Tamil Nadu.  Today I am going to share our family rasam recipe – a traditional and authentic rasam prepared with homemade rasam powder and toor dal in eeya sombu, a tin alloy vessel. This is a no garlic rasam with tamarind base and it is popularly known as paruppu rasam in Tamil. 

The blog needs no intro about my love for rasam. I love any kind of rasam and this paruppu rasam tops the list always. It’s a soul food and comfort food for me. Once you have the cooked toor dal, you can prepare the rasam in no time. It just mixing all the ingredients and simmering them together.  As the kiddo loves rasam very much, I prepare rasam every alternate day and this paruppu rasam will be on my menu at least twice or thrice a week. I wanted to start my Meal Plan Series with Rasam, but somehow Paruppu Kadaiyal became the first one.

Eeya Sombu:

I know, I have posted a handful of rasam recipes but never talked about this special vessel that renders the unique flavor to the rasam. It is the Eeya Sombu or the Tin Alloy Vessel. In Tamil, we say it as Velli Eeyam. It is a combination of Tin and Aluminium. Kumbakonam is known for making this eeya patrams. I got mine from Kumbakonam. In olden days, they cook the rasam in eeya sombu on the kumutti adupu (traditional coal stove). Slow cooking in eeya sombu always yields a delicious rasam with a distinct flavor.  

People often think that eeyam is lead and we all know lead is poisonous. The vessel became less popular in the last decade. Actually, it is made of the Tin Alloy. Tin melts at 250 deg F, so always make sure you are simmering it with liquid in the vessel over low heat. You cannot heat the empty eeya sombu. Also, I would not recommend using the kidiki or the vessel holding tongs on the eeyam sombu. I usually use a cloth to transfer it from the stove. Please check the below video for more information and how I made the rasam in eeya sombu.

You can always make rasam in stainless steel pot or even in Instant Pot. Eeyam sombu definitely enhances the flavor but it is not mandatory.

Simmering the Rasam:

My grandma always recommends not to boil the rasam after adding the dal. We need to simmer it until becomes frothy.  We can boil before adding the dal as the raw smell of rasam podi and tamarind needs to go. But after adding, we don’t want to lose the flavors by allowing it to boil. But I have let it boil a couple of times, but I need to agree there is a minuscule difference in the taste of rasam when we allow it to boil. Also, boiling slightly thickens the rasam so simmering is the best way to go.

I used my homemade rasam podi for this recipe. You can also use the horsegram dal rasam podi for this. You can also find Rasam Powder in Indian grocery stores. 

Indian Vegetarian Meal Plan Series:

Here is my third menu featuring this paruppu rasam and potato-onion curry. Please subscribe to my channel for more meal plan ideas. I know, today’s video is quite lengthy as I shared about tamarind paste and tamarind pods and also about eh eeya sombu. Hope you all will like it. Please share your feedback and thoughts. 

Ingredients:

• Toor Dal – 1/4 cup
• Water – 2.5 cups
• Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp
• Tamarind Paste – 2 tsps 
• Rasam Podi – 1 tbsp
• Salt – 1/2 tbsp
• Freshly Ground Pepper – 1/2 tsp
• Curry Leaves – 5 to 6
• Tomato – 1
• Jaggery – 1/4 tsp
• Cilantro – handful
• To Temper:
• Ghee – 2 tsps
• Cumin Seeds – 1 tbsp
• Mustard Seeds – 1/4 tsp
• Hing – 1/4 tsp

Prep – work:

• Wash the toor dal and pressure cook it for 3 whistles by adding 1 cup of water and 1/4 tsp of turmeric.
• Once the pressure is released, allow it cool and mash it well.
• If using tamarind, soak a small gooseberry sized tamarind in 1 cup of water for at least 1 hour and extract the juice.
• Chop the tomatoes.

Steps:

• Take the vessel, in which you are going to make the rasam. Add the tamarind concentrate/paste, salt, rasam powder, freshly ground pepper, curry leaves, cilantro, tomato, jaggery along with 1.25 cups of water to the vessel.
• Mix it well and keep it in the stove and simmer it over a low flame.
• When it becomes frothy on top, add the mashed toor dal and the remaining water.
• Allow it to simmer till it creates the froth on the top.
• In a separate tempering pan, heat the oil or ghee. Add the mustard seeds, hing and cumin seeds. When the mustard seeds start to splutter add it to the rasam.

That’s it. Rasam is ready. Serve hot with rice and your favorite dry curry.

Notes:

• Jaggery is optional.
• Adjust the salt and rasam podi as per your preference.
• If you prefer very thin consistency rasam, add one more cup of water and adjust the salt accordingly.
• Don’t allow the rasam to boil for a longer time.

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Source: https://www.vidhyashomecooking.com/dhal-rasamparuppu-rasam/