Vepampoo rasam
A special, seasonal, medicinal rasam that’s a classic in the Tamil repertoire, made with neem flowers in April and May each year. This rasam is a clear or thelivu rasam, suitable for drinking as much as eating with rice and rich with liver-cleansing, digestive, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties.
Ingredients
- A lime-sized ball of tamarind, deseeded
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 handful toor dal
- 3-4 dry red chillies
- 1 piece katti perungayam or whole dry hing/asafoetida
- 1 and ½ teaspoons rasam podi
- 1 tablespoon jaggery
- 1½ tablespoons ghee, or sesame oil
- 3-4 tablespoons dried neem flowers
To temper (but see the notes--tempering neem flower rasam is optional)
- A teaspoon of ghee or sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon jeera seeds
- a sprig of fresh curry leaves
Instructions
To make the rasam:
- Extract tamarind water by soaking the dry tamarind in a cup or so of warm water, leaving it to soak, and then working it with your fingers to release the pulp. Remove the seeds/pulp/fibres and place the tamarind water in a pan to boil.
- Add turmeric powder and salt and enough water to make about ¾ to 1 liter
- While that’s going, roast the dal, chillies, and hing in 1 tablespoon sesame oil until the dal turns fragrant and golden-brown. Take care not to burn it.
- Tip this into the simmering tamarind water
- Add the rasam powder and jaggery
- Simmer this mixture until the dals have cooked, the raw tamarind smell has dissipated, and the rasam is deepening in color.
- In 2 tablespoons ghee (or sesame oil), fry the dried neem flowers gently until they darken several shades—a minute or so. Take care not to let them burn.
- Pour this into the simmering rasam.
To temper (see notes; tempering neem flower rasam is optional)
- Heat the ghee or sesame oil in a tempering pan until it is almost smoking. Add the mustard seeds and jeera—watch those crackle and splutter—and then follow with the curry leaves.
- Once these crisp just lightly, pour over the rasam.
- Serve hot with a nice soft table rice like thooyamalli, khichli samba, or jeeraga samba.
Notes
- I prefer to temper my vepampoo rasam, but some don't, preferring to end with the fried neem flower addition. Leave out the tempering step if you like! It gives you a far more distinctive neem flower taste.
- If you have extra dried flowers, save these and have them with plain hot rice and a little salt!
- The rasavandi or heavier dal-chilli-flowers that settle at the bottom are great as accompaniments to curd-rice.
- The almost twin of this preparation is the pavazhamalli rasam of a season or two ago--both neem and coral jasmine flowers are medicinal bitters.