Moongdal - Green Mango Rasam / Pesarapappu - Mamidikaya Chaaru

Chaaru / Rasam / Saaru whatever the regional name maybe, happens to be a staple dish in south Indian cooking and is a thin, spicy lentil broth served with rice. It is served in many homes for every lunch / dinner and considered a comfort dish by many. It aids in digestion and is light enough to serve even to the sick. The classic and the most common rasam uses the pigeon peas - tomato combo. Or lemon juice in lieu of tomato. There are different variations nowadays in the rasam preparations and I happened to see this one on a television cooking program. Rasam powder aka the spice powder used to prepare rasam is a pantry staple in south Indian homes and if you have rasam powder (either homemade or store bought - I would recommend MTR brand) handy, the preparation becomes a simple and easy one.

I prepare rasam / chaaru on a regular basis in my home though I don't have the basic rasam recipe posted here on my blog so far. I am quite good at rasam preparation while not being so in  photographing it. I admit it without any embarrassment that my 'rasam' photographs usually don't do justice to the dish itself.  I see many bloggers beautifully capturing rasam in their images. In my case, all the good stuff sinks to the bottom including the tempering and clear liquid topped with drops of grease remains to be captured and I usually give up. I wasn't happy with today's image too but the green mango rasam is so flavorful that I could not let go without posting it.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup moong dal / skinned, split green gram
1/8 tsp. ground turmeric
3/4 tsp. salt or as needed
1 and 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp. finely minced cilantro
Ingredients to toast and grind:
1/4 tsp. pepper corns
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1.5 tsp. coriander seeds
or
1 tsp. homemade or store bought rasam powder
Ingredients for tempering:
1 tsp. ghee / oil
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
2 dried red chillies, broken into bits
2 green chillies, sliced lengthwise
6 - 8 curry leaves
A pinch of asafoetida powder
1/4 cup grated green mango 

Directions:
* Wash and rinse the moong dal in two exchanges of water and drain. Pressure cook moong dal adding 1/2 cup of water and ground turmeric for 3 whistles. (At this stage, one can also add mango pieces along with dal and cook instead of grating and frying later). When the valve pressure is gone, finely mash the dal and mangoes (if used) with the back of a ladle and keep aside.
* Meanwhile, toast pepper corns, cumin and coriander seeds without burning them. Let cool and grind fine. (Skip the step if you have rasam powder.)
* Heat oil / ghee in a pan / pot and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When mustard seeds starts to splutter add red chillies, green chillies and curry leaves and saute for a few seconds. Next add asafoetida powder and grated mango (in case if you haven't pressure cooked green mango in the first step.). Fry for few minutes on low flame until the mango appears cooked. Then add pureed moong dal, salt, ground spices (or rasam powder), minced cilantro and about 1.5 cups of water (or as needed to get the desired consistency.) Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed. Bring the mixture to a boil and turn off the stove.
* Serve piping hot rasam with rice and dollop of ghee or as a part of a south Indian meal.

Notes:
* I usually don't use green or red chillies in a rasam recipe since the red chillies and black pepper used in my rasam powder lend enough spicy kick. However I used MTR rasam powder while preparing this rasam and recommend the usage of red chillies and mildly spiced green chillies unless if the rasam powder being used is very spicy by itself. The sourness from the green mango cuts down the spicy level. 
* The mango can be cut into pieces and cooked (and then mashed) along with moong dal if desired instead of grating and frying later.
* Basically I use the same ingredients to prepare my own rasam powder but not in the same ratio. The recipe link to my rasam powder is given below.

Other Rasam recipes posted here.
Carrot Rasam
Drumstick Rasam
Pineapple Rasam
Rasam Powder / Charu podi

This goes to Blogging Marathon under 'Bookmarked Recipes' Theme.

  

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