Milagu Rasam/Pepper Rasam (With step by step pictures)

Pepper rasam, a bliss for cold and cough. Pepper and garlic do wonders to your sore throat when you take this along with hot steaming rice. You can also drink this like a soup that too when it is piping hot. When you prepare pepper rasam, it is advisable to use ghee for the tempering. Because pepper and tamarind induces a lot of heat to your body. Ghee helps subsiding the heat and the spice of the pepper. Also it helps in curing the ulcers that might have formed because of the sore throat. Tomatoes are optional ingredient for pepper rasam. You can add or omit them depending on your preference. Try this when you have to fight cold/cough or on any rainy day and I am sure you're gonna love it!!

Ingredients

Tamarind - a gooseberry sized ball, soaked and extracted
Tomato - a small one, chopped or mashed using your hand
Coriander leaves - a handful
Salt - as per taste
Jaggery - 1 tsp

Dry roast and grind

Pepper - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Garlic - 1
Red chilli - 1 or 2, as per taste
Toor dal - 1 tbsp

For tempering

Ghee - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Hing - a small pinch

Method

1. Heat a pan and dry roast the ingredients mentioned above. Allow to cool down and grind to a coarse powder.  
   
   
2. In a bowl, take the tamarind extract and add some water to it, may be 1/2 a cup of water. Add the chopped/mashed tomato and salt to it. Bring it to a boil until the raw smell of the tomato goes off.                               
3. Then add the ground jeera-pepper powder and allow to boil for 2 mins. Then add the jaggery to it.
   
   
   
   
4. Meantime do the tempering. Heat a small pan, add a tsp of ghee, once the ghee is hot enough add mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering add in the methi seeds, curry leaves and hing. Switch off the flame and pour this tempering to the boiling rasam. Add the coriander leaves and switch off.  
5. 
6. Enjoy with steamed hot rice!!

** You can also skip garlic in this. But garlic is one natural remedy for cold and flu.