Pomegranate Rasam / Maadhulampazha Rasam / Danimmapandu Chaaru

Pomegranate, a healthy and an antioxidant rich fruit is a symbol of healthy and eternal life. The tiny little red seeds inside the fruit are highly beneficial to the human heart and they melt away heart blockages. They lower Cholesterol and blood pressure and helps in preventing both heart attacks and strokes. Being a powerful and an extra dense fruit, its not wise to exclude this fruit from our menu. We could make a rich smoothie out of it, could add the seeds in our curd rice, raitas and in salads. Recently I read about this Pomegranate rasam in a magazine and decided to try it out in my kitchen. 

Neither tamarind juice nor tomatoes are needed to prepare this healthy rasam. I made this rasam only with the nutrient pomegranate juice. I assure you that it will be liked by your kids who refuse to eat pomegranate seeds. This rasam could be given as a good appetizer too.

Ingredients

Big Ripe Pomegranates - 3 or 4
Boiled Toor Dal - 2 tbsp

Coriander Leaves - To Garnish
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Sambar Powder - 1/2 tbsp
Cumin Black Pepper Powder - 3 tsp
Green chillies - 2 ( slit into halves )
Salt - To Taste
Water - As required.


For Tempering :
Oil - 3 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp ( Optional but yummy if added!!)
Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash
Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves - 4 or 5
Dry Red Chillies - 2 medium
Pinch of cumin pepper powder.


Method

• Take out the Pomegranate seeds and make a puree out of it using a blender. Strain the Pomegranate juice to filter only the juice without any seeds or precipitates. Keep the clean pomegranate juice ready.
• Meantime cook the toordal in a pressure cooker for 4-5 whistles. Add half a glass of water to the mashed toordal paste and keep the toordal water ready.
• In the rasam making pan or small vessel, add the Pomegranate juice along with the powders, hing, green chili slits,required amount of salt and a glass of water. Allow them to boil on medium flame for 3-4 minutes till the raw smell goes off. 
• Add the Toor dal water into the rasam and allow them to sit on low flame. Once you see the froth on the top of the rasam surface, switch off the flame.
• Do the tempering separately and pour the sizzling tempered contents over the rasam.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it as an appetizer. Or it can be served with hot white rice and a spicy veg curry.

Tempering :

Heat the tadka pan on a medium flame. Add oil / ghee into the pan. Once its heated, add Hing, Mustard seeds and Cumin Seeds. Once they sputter, add a pinch of cumin pepper powder, curry leaves, dry red chillies into it. When they get fried, pour them over the hot rasam. 

Tips 

• Make the cumin black pepper powder freshly and add to the rasam as it gives a nice aroma and spiciness to the rasam.
• Always add atleast a pinch of this powder in your tadka/tempering as it enhances the taste of the rasam.
• You can add a tsp of ghee during tempering along with oil. But addition of ghee is purely optional.
• You can adjust the Sambar Powder level according to the spiciness of the powder. Our homemade sambar powder will not be that spicy, so I add between 1/2 tbsp to 1 tbsp.
• Avoid choosing a big broad vessel for making rasams, instead go for a medium sized vessel with a narrow opening on its top.
• Try to switch off the flame as soon as you notice the froth on the top of rasam surface. This gives rasam a unique taste.