Spicy south-indian soup with green beans

Did you catch a cold this winter? Cozy up with this spicy bowl of hot soup that clears up blocked nostrils and relieves cold. If you cannot handle the heat, add slightly less spices. But trust me, you will really appreciate it after it clears your throat and you can breathe again :D But also great on any other day anyways! Especially in winter, I crave this warm and spicy bowl of rice and rasam so much! Honestly, the rasam back home in India is so good and I can only try to recreate it with what is available here. Every time I make rasam, there has to be green beans! This makes it a wholesome meal with rice, lentils and veggies :) So this dish has three components; The Tomato Rasam (spicy soup) and Green Beans Fry served with rice. Let's put them together!

What you will need to make Rasam:

• 1/3 cup Toor Dal or split pigeon peas (tip:easier to use red lentils since it cooks faster)

• 2 ripe tomatoes (chopped)

• 1 strip tamarind/1 cup soaked tamarind juice/2 tbsp tamarind paste

• 1tbsp Cumin powder

• 1tbsp Pepper powder

• 1/2 tsp turmeric

• Salt to taste

For tempering:

• 1tbsp oil (any flavourless oil)

• 1tsp mustard seeds

• 1tsp cumin seeds

• 2 dried red chillies

• Curry leaves(optional)

How to make:

• Soak the lentils for a few hours.

• Pressure cook the toor dal with water to make a thick paste.

• In a medium-sized pot, heat some oil. Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds and allow to crackle.

• Add in the red chillies and curry leaves.

• Now add the chopped tomatoes with salt and turmeric and fry until it becomes a paste.

• Squeeze the soaked tamarind and pour in the juice filtering the grits out.

• Add the cooked toor dal and mix it until it completely dissolves into the soup.

• Add the cumin power and pepper powder.

• Add extra water to make a thin soup consistency and simmer for 10-15 minutes until all the spices are infused.

• Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Method 2: (the correct way to make rasam)

• Soak the lentils for a few hours.

• Boil the lentils with water and chopped tomatoes. Add salt and turmeric.

• Once the lentils are cooked completely, add the tamarind juice.

• Add the spices; cumin powder and pepper powder.

• Continue to boil until all the spices are infused in the soup.

• In a smaller pot, heat some oil. Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds and allow to crackle.

• Remove from heat, add the dried red chillies and curry leaves and fry for a few seconds.

• Add this tempering to the soup.

• Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

For the green beans fry you will need:

• 500g fresh green beans

• 1 tbsp oil (any flavourless oil)

• 1 tsp mustard seeds

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• 1/2 tbsp Urad Dal/split black gram

• 1 tbsp Fresh grated coconut/dried coconut flakes

• 1/2 tsp turmeric

• Salt to taste

How to make:

• In a pan, heat some oil. Add the mustard and cumin seeds and allow to crackle.

• Add the Urad dal and fry until golden brown.

• Add the chopped green beans and fry with salt and turmeric.

• The colour of the beans changes to a vivid green after just a few minutes.

• Do not cover with a lid as it loses its vidid green color to a pale green.

• Cook slightly under to retain the nutrients.

• Garnish with fresh coconut/dried coconut flakes.

Watch the recipe video on youtube!

#spicysoup