A spicy and sour broth from Ravinder Bhogal.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp brown mustard seeds
- ¼ tsp asafoetida
- 15 curry leaves
- 1 dried chilli broken
- ¼ tsp whole peppercorns
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp heapedrasam powder
- 1 thumbsized piece fresh ginger peeled and cut into very fine matchsticks
- 1 long red chilli sliced
- 2 tomatoes chopped
- 45 g tamarind concentrate
- 20 g jaggery or soft light brown sugar
- 1 litre water
- sea salt to taste
- 100 g basmati rice
- 2 kg mussels rinsed and cleaned (discard any with broken shells or open ones that don’t close when tapped)
- 1 handful freshly chopped coriander
- juice of a lime to taste
- For the rasam powder
- 1 tbsp ghee for frying
- 4 whole dried chillies
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp pigeon peas or channa dal
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
- 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
Servings:
Instructions
- First make the rasam powder; heat the ghee in a small pan, then add all the other powder ingredients. Saute over a low heat for three to four minutes, set aside to cool, then blend into a fine powder and store in an airtight container.
- To make the rasam, melt the ghee in a large saucepan, add the mustard seeds and, once they pop and splutter, sprinkle in the asafoetida, curry leaves and dried chilli.
- Tip in the peppercorns, cumin, ginger, chilli and the rasam powder, and stir-fry briefly until fragrant. Add the tomatoes, tamarind, jaggery, water and salt, and bring to a boil.
- Leave to simmer for 20 minutes, then leave to cool and infuse for at least an hour, but the longer, the better, and preferably overnight. Fine strain, making sure you squeeze the solids against the sieve before discarding.
- Bring the strained rasam back to a boil, drop in the rice and cook for 10 minutes, until tender. Drop in the mussels, cover with a tight lid and steam for three to four minutes, until the mussels have opened up (discard any that don’t).
- Finish with the coriander and lime juice to taste, and serve at once.
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