Thakkali Rasam

It has been a week since I cooked something at home! Due to all the shifting and moving, I had hardly anything left in my pantry and I had no time to cook :(
Time to set up my kitchen and start making some comfort food! With nothing interesting to post, I found this thakkali rasam in my drafts. I know this is not a special recipe but it surely is a comforting and soothing recipe. This recipe was passed on to me from my grandma. Please forgive the picture!


Ingredients:
Tomatoes - 2
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander leaves - a few
Green chillies - 2
Garlic - 2 cloves
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves - 1 sprig

For the tempering
Ghee/Oil - 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Hing/Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Dried red chillies - 2
Curry leaves few
Black peppercorns - around 10 in number
Salt to taste

Directions
Grind the pepper corns, garlic,green chillies, curry leaves and jeera into a course mixture. Alternatively you could pound this to a coarse paste using a pestle and mortar.

Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for about five minutes and peel the skin. Run the tomatoes in the mixer/blender to get a thick tomato mixture. Add the hot water used for blanching the tomatoes, turmeric powder and salt to this tomato mixture.

Do the tempering using all the ingredients listed. Once the mustard and jeera start spluttering, add the coarse ground dry mixture and fry for a minute. Take care it does not burn.

Bring the tomato mixture back to the stove and bring it to a boil. Remove from heat as soon as it boils. Pour the tempering over it and mix well. Adjust salt and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve with some hot rice!

Sending this to Cooking Basics Event hosted by Mahimaa.