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Pacchai Kurumilagu Rasam or Fresh Green Peppercorn Rasam

This is a zesty, zingy seasonal rasam made with green pepper from the hills when they're first arriving after the rains. It's a fantastic digestive and the addition of lemon provides a vitamin-C boost for all those seasonal sniffles.
Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 3-4 cloves of garlic
  • ½ teaspoon jeera/cumin
  • 1-2 mild green chiliies (omit if you’re unsure of heat)
  • 2 strands fresh green peppercorns
  • ¼ cup toor dal
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon rasam powder
  • Salt to taste
  • Juice of 1 whole ripe lime or small lemon, or to taste
  • Jaggery to taste (optional)
  • Fresh coriander leaves and stems, roughly chopped

Tempering

  • 1 tablespoon ghee or neutral flavored oil
  • ½ teaspoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • A pinch of hing/asafoetida
  • A broken dry red chilli
  • 1 sprig curry leaves
  • ½ teaspoon julienned ginger, optional

Instructions
 

  • Set the toor dal to cook either on stovetop or in a pressure cooker. Don’t add too much water, just enough to make a thick dal.
  • Meanwhile, using a mortar and pestle or molcajete, smash together the cumin, mild green chillies, garlic, and the peppercorns until they’re combined into a rough paste. Remove the inner stalks of the pepper strands as the peppercorns themselves come loose in the pounding. If you’re using a food processor, be sure to remove the inner stalks first and then add the ingredients to the processor jar.
  • Once the dal is cooked soft, beat it well with a spoon to break up the pulses.
  • Return this to a pot on a medium flame. Add a cup or two of water to dilute and then the turmeric.
  • Follow with the rasam powder and then the green peppercorn-garlic mixture. Wash the grinding stone with a little water, and add this, too.
  • Add salt to taste.
  • Now allow the rasam to heat through—it will start to get foamy. Reduce the heat to minimum and prepare the tempering.

For the tempering

  • Heat the ghee in a small tempering pan, and follow quickly with all other dry ingredients. Once these crackle and splutter, add the curry leaves and julienned ginger, if using.
  • Fry until the curry leaves are starting to crisp, and pour this directly on top of the foaming rasam.
  • Turn off the flame right away.
  • Now add the juice of a whole lemon, or to taste. You can also add jaggery to taste if you like.
  • Toss in the chopped coriander leaves and stems and allow to wilt in the hot rasam.
  • Serve hot with a soft white table rice like a semi-polished kullakar or parboiled polished iluppaipoo samba.

Notes

Ginger tastes complement the green peppercorns very well; you can consider omitting the garlic in favor of ginger for a nice variation.