Mysore Rasam

Blogging Marathon #60: Week 3/ Day 3 Theme: Regional Specials Dish: Mysore Rasam
For the last day of Blogging marathon, I made another comforting dish from Mysore. I actually made this couple of months ago from 'Dakshin' by Chandra Padmanabhan and I fell in love with all the flavors that went into this.
I don't usually make spice powders at home. MTR brand is one of my favorites and I buy their rasam, sambar and garam masalas. But I had to make an exception for this recipe and it definitely made a big difference. Fresh homemade masalas give so much flavor to the dish, I have to make an effort to make more fresh masalas going forward. That masala recipe is coming up very soon.
After looking at other Mysore Rasam recipes online, I'm not really sure if this is an authentic recipe because the other recipes did not have coconut milk added. But I think coconut milk adds a nice counterbalance to the tangy and spicy rasam. 
I have made this rasam many times and it has been liked by both kids and adults. It has become one of my favorite dish too. 

Mysore Rasam
Ingredients:

• ½cup Toor dal
• 1tbsp Tamarind paste
• 2 Medium Tomatoes, chopped
• 3tsp Mysore Rasam powder (recipe coming soon)
• 2tbsp Jaggery, grated or powdered
• ¼tsp Turmeric
• 1tbsp Ghee
• 1tsp Mustard seeds
• 1tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 Dry red chili, halved
• ½tsp Asafoetida
• 8~10 Curry leaves
• ½cup Coconut Milk

Method:

1. Pressure cook toor dal until very tender and set aside.
2. Heat ghee in a saucepan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chili, asafoetida and curry leaves, once the seeds start to splutter, add the tomatoes, tamarind paste, Mysore rasam powder, jaggery, turmeric and salt.
3. Simmer on low heat for 15~20 minutes till tomatoes are mushy.
4. Add the cooked dal and simmer for another 5 minutes for the flavors to blend.
5. Turn off the heat and stir in coconut milk and chopped cilantro. Serve with steamed rice.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 60.