Kurumulagu rasam/ Spicy black pepper drink

Curing cold with shots? You will be wondering what shots is the dry shots (drinking one) or injection. Don’t worry they are not dry shots or injection just our age old favorite; Kurumulagu rasam /Pepper rasam. I doubt can if I can call it soup so I prefer to call them drink.

Every mom in India has their own version of this rasam. Some will add some extra add on where as other won’t add anything, but all of them will contain, pepper, coriander, red chili, cumin, tamarind, salt and touch of jaggery. Amma makes it without adding garlic, where as my mother-in-law adds garlic to that. She grinds everything into a paste. On the other hand amma ground everything into a powder. I makes amma’s version most of time.

My hubby if he is with his mom, he would say my mother-in-law version of rasam is good. If he is here in US he will say you are making good rasam. I think he is balancing between two women in his life, third one (little princess) not yet ready for making him rasam, then he will change his opinion according to that also. He is nice guy, knows which move to make when and where.

If you have a daring cold, stuffed and runny nose, and want to kill everybody on your way, try this. After drinking two three sips magically your stuffed runny nose will open. However, this is not permanent solution; you need to drink more often, three times a day.

Black pepper is known to break the congestion. Cumin seeds are known to have antiseptic properties, so it is helpful in treating the throat irritations associated with cold . Coriander acts as an expectorant; Tamarind can help in reducing fever during cold.  Jaggery is considered to be whole sugar as it contains both sucrose and glucose. It known prevents dry cough as well as cough with sputum. Read more from here.

After reading all the health benefits of ingredients used in the rasam, once again I was amazed by home remedies prepared by mom and grand moms. So whatever they say it is good for you. Pay attention, they are good indeed. Here goes my mom’s rasam recipe. You can make either double or triple make in bulk. However, I prefer to make fresh and this recipe yield for 2 time use. I don’t think this rasam can be served along with rice. It is good as drink. 

Print recipe from here

What you need

 For rasam powder
Cumin seeds: 1 tablespoon
Coriander seeds: ½ tablespoon
Red chilies: 4 no
Whole Black pepper/Kurumulagu: ¼ teaspoon
Asafetodia: ¼ teaspoon

For rasam

Rasam powder: ½ tablespoon + ½ teaspoon
Salt: 1 and 1/8 teaspoon
Turmeric powder: 1/4 teaspoon
Tamarind: small ping pong ball size
Mustard seeds: ¼ teaspoon
Cumin seeds:1/4 teaspoon
Jaggery:1/2 teaspoon
Coriander leaves; 1 tablespoon
Water: 2 cup
Oil : 1 tablespoon






How I made

First dry roast the ingredients for the rasam  expect asafetodia and set aside( Be careful not to burn anything, only fry until raw smell is removed and aroma starts coming, coriander ,cumin seeds  and chili become slightly brown and black pepper become plum up). It will take about 6 minutes. Once it is cool enough to touch add asafetodia and grind them into a fine powder. It yield about 2 1/4 tablespoon.

In a small bowl add 1 cup of water and tamarind and microwave for high at 15 seconds and extract the juice and set aside.

Heat oil in a sauce pan add cumin and mustard seeds once mustard seeds starts spluttering add tamarind juice and rest of water along with rasam powder, turmeric powder and salt. Bring it to boil then add jaggery and let it boil for another 2 minutes. Switch off the flame and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Enjoy hot as much you can tolerate.

Preparation time: For rasam powder: 10 minutes
Making rasam: 7 minutes
Yield: 4 serving
Verdict: Tasty
Will you make it again: Yes I will whenever we get cold.

 I  am sending this delicious Kurumulagu rasam to Back to Basics :3 hosted by Sra originally started  by Desi Soccer Mom.

Swathi