Indian chicken rasam(chicken-black pepper soup).

Ingredients

• Ingredients mentioned below use standard measuring cups and spoons.
• 700 g chicken part(preferably bone-in)
• Salt to season
• 3 tablespoons of tamarind juice(1 extra spoon to be added later if you prefer a little more sourness to the rasam, you can also use lime juice as a substitute ingredient).
• 2 tablespoons of coriander seeds
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon of black pepper(increase by 1 teaspoon if needed)
• 2 medium-sized onions
• 3 green chillies chopped
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2″ ginger piece
• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 5-6 curry leaves
• 3 medium-sized tomatoes cut into thick wedges
• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
• 2 teaspoons of red chilies powder
• 5 cups of water

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean and wash the chicken parts(700g), completely drain water and place them in a bowl.

2. 2

   Marinate with salt(1/2 teaspoon) and tamarind juice(3 tbs). set aside for 15-20 minutes.

3. 3

   .HOW TO MAKE THE RASAM SPICE PASTE.

4. 4

   Add coriander seeds(2 tbs), cumin seeds( 2 and 1/2 tsp), black peppercorns(1 tbs)to a grinder.

5. 5

   And make a coarse spice powder.

6. 6

   Once you’ve ground the spices, add the onions(2 medium), green chillies(3), garlic(6 cloves), ginger(2″piece) and blitz to make the rasam spice paste.

7. 7

   If you are using a small grinder, you might have to grind this in two stages to accommodate all ingredients.

8. 8

   Add a few teaspoons of water to make the grinding easier. set aside.

9. 9

   To a wok or large pan, add oil(2 tbs) and temper the mustard seeds(1 tsp) with curry leaves(5-6 leaves) until the mustard seeds pop over medium heat.

10. 10

    Add the spice paste followed by tomatoes(3medium), turmeric(1/2 tsp), chilies powder(2 tsp), reduce heat to low and cook for 3-5 minutes

11. 11

    Until the raw onion paste and spices are cooked slightly and release their aroma.

12. 12

    Add the chicken parts to the spice paste combine and cook for another 5 minutes.

13. 13

    Avoid browning the chicken by maintaining low-medium heat and moving the chicken parts and letting the rasam paste coat them.

14. 14

    Add water(5 cups), maintain medium heat and continue to slow simmer the chicken soup for 30 minutes.

15. 15

    As the chicken rasam simmers, remove any greying matter that floats on top of the rasam water.

16. 16

    30 minutes into cooking time, taste the soup and season with salt, pepper and additional tamarind juice(1-2 tablespoons but make sure the soup doesn’t turn too sour, start with 1 tablespoon)to add sourness to the chicken soup(rasam).

17. 17

    Serve with rice and poppadams to make a simple lunch.