Pineapple rasam

A long while ago, I read Delicious pineapple rasam in Indu's blog. Ever since, I wanted to try that but it never happened until the other day my friend brought home a pineapple and that turned out to be a bit on the sour side. My husband would not care to eat the pineapple and I was reluctant to add loads of sugar making a juice. Then I told him that I would make raita and rasam with the fruit. He was game to try them. I have only had raita in an eatery in Bahrain and the rasam in some wedding. But I hit a super six when I tried either recipe.

I have deviated a bit from Indu's recipe. While she has cooked pieces of fruit and mashed them, I have first extracted the juice in a blender, retaining a few pieces. Also I did not add any jaggery. Later there was some sweet taste rendered by the pineapple which would have been too sweet had I added jaggery.

The recipe below will yield about 500ml rasam.

Cubed pineapple pieces 1/2 cup

Thuvar dhal 3 tablespoons

Tamarind extract from a marble size ball of tamarind

Rasam powder 2 teaspoons

Salt as required

Turmeric powder 1/4 teaspoon

Asafoetida powder 1/4 teaspoon

Tempering:

Ghee 1 teaspoon

Mustard seeds 2 teaspoons

Cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon

Ground black pepper and ground coriander powder 1/4 teaspoon each

Curry leaves

Garnish

Freshly chopped coriander leaves

Few pineapple cubes

Choose the pineapple that is raw. The inside will still be largely white. Clean and cube the fruit.

Keep aside a few cubes for garnish.

Run the rest in a blender with some water and pulp it. Strain to obtain juice and remove scum.

Soak tamarind in warm water and extract pulp. Add to the strained juice.

Pressure cook the dhal until very soft. Allow to cool and mash. Add 1/2 cup of water and keep aside.

Meanwhile add salt, rasam powder,tumeric powder and asafoetida to the juice. Cook on medium flame for about 10-12 minutes. ( Alternately microwave on medium for 6 minutes, allow to stand 4 minutes)

Add the mashed dhal water and cook for further 5 minutes.

Heat the ghee in a pan. Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Allow them to crackle. Add the powders and curry leaves. Toss once and quickly turn the heat off. Temper this to the rasam.

Garnish with the retained pineapple cubes and coriander leaves.

The rasam can be had as an appetizer drink or can be mixed with hat steamed rice and consumed.