Nellikai/amla rasam

The winters kick-start the season of the Indian gooseberry, better known as amla. Botanically, this extremely sour little fruit is known as Emblica Officinalis. Though you may not find its taste appealing, don't be quick to dismiss it — it's abundant in nutrients and packed with the power of Vitamin C.
 I was wondering for months about how to add amlas in our daily diet .I did not want to take amlas in pickles or murabbaas all the time .I have been buying amla juice from Pathanjali and used to add this to salads and juices but never tried in this form.
However, few days before I tried this rasam specially for my hubby. Despite the fancy dinners my husband gets to enjoy the only thing he truly craves is a deep, steaming bowl of freshly-made dal or rasam.So when i tried this rasam he really liked the hot and sour combo with a kick of Hing/ asafoetida which is the key ingredient generally used in our konkani dal or saru

 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Toor dal
• 5-6 Amla/Indian gooseberry
• 3-4 Green chillies

For Tempering:

• 1 pinch Hing/ asafoetida
• 1/2tsp Mustard
• 1/2 tsp Cumin/jeera
• 2 springs of  Curry leaves
• 1 Dry red chilly( cut into pieces)
• 2 tsp Ghee
• 1 tbsp Coriander leaves,chopped

Cooking Directions

1. Wash and boil amla and green chilly in 2 cups of water.If you want spicy rasam then add some more chillies.
2. Deseed amla and grind with chillies to coarse paste
3. Pressure cook dal in 2 cups of water with little turmeric and oil.
4. Remove cooked dal and blend it well with churner/kadegolu or in a blender.
5. Now mix ground amla-chilly paste and dal together ,add 2 cups of water and boil for at least 10 minutes. This rasam should be thin ,watery consistency.
6. Now prepare the tempering by heating ghee in a small pan,followed by mustard,jeera,red chillies,hing and curry leaves and pour this over the rasam
7. Plain white rice is an excellent accompaniment or you can be served as a soup just before dinner or lunch ....choice is all your's :)