Sri Lankan tamarind soup with pepper(rasam).

Ingredients

• Ingredients mentioned below use standard measuring cups and spoons.
• 1/4 cup tamarind pulp or 3 tablespoons of tamarind paste(see notes below on how to make tamarind juice)
• 2 cups of water
• 1 medium-sized onion finely sliced
• 2-inch ginger piece
• 7 garlic cloves
• A sprig of curry leaves
• 10-12 fresh black peppercorns
• 2 teaspoons of coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• Salt to season

Instructions

1. 1

   HOW TO MAKE TAMARIND JUICE:Place Tamarind in a bowl(1/4 cup) and soak it in warm water(1/2 cup) for 15-20 minutes.Once soaked, strain the tamarind juice and discard the seeds.

2. 2

   If you are using the tamarind pulp or paste, add tamarind(3 tbs) to 1/2 cup of warm water mix until dissolved.

3. 3

   HOW TO MAKE TAMARIND SOUP(RASAM).For this process of making a coarse rasam paste I am using a grinding stone, you can use blender spice grinder attachment to make this paste with a few teaspoons of water to ease the grinding.

4. 4

   Wash the grinding stone surface. Place the onions slices(1), Ginger (2-inch piece), Garlic (7 pods) and the Curry Leaves ( a sprig). These are the ingredients that extract liquid once ground, grind these ingredients over the stone until you’ve smashed most of the ingredients

5. 5

   If you are using a spice blender blitz once over medium speed.

6. 6

   Then add coriander(2 tsp), peppercorns (10), cumin seed(1 tsp).

7. 7

   Move the grinding stone back and forth without lifting it off the surface over the spice seeds until all the ingredients are coarsely ground.

8. 8

   If you are using the blender blitz again over medium speed once for the ingredients to appear as below.

9. 9

   Transfer the contents into a clay/cooking pot and add the tamarind juice and water.

10. 10

    Place the pan over the stove, bring the tamarind soup to a boil, make sure it doesn’t spill over, once boiled, reduce heat to low-medium and simmer for 15 minutes.

11. 11

    Give it a good stir taste and season with salt and if you feel you need a little bit more sourness, add a teaspoon of the pulp or juice to balance the taste.

12. 12

    Serve hot or warm. That’s when it tastes the best.