*** I am following Meenakshi Ammal’s recipes, however I’m using shortcuts like the cooker, etc. and adding some of my own twist to the recipes. What you see here are my recipes inspired by M. Ammal’s and in no way is Ms. Ammal responsible for its outcome should you choose to try it. Though she was responsible for the brilliant outcome of my dish, so, a big thank you Ms. Ammal for writing Samaithu Par.***

It’s been a while now since I cooked from the Samaithu Par. The last couple of weeks I’ve been cooking a lot of Mom’s recipes which being curries aren’t as simple as South Indian cooking so I’m still working on mastering the proportions. I’ll share the recipes here as soon as I have that down to pat.

Anyway as I was saying I haven’t tried something from the Samaithu Par in a while so I thought I better get back to it else I’ll never finish all the recipes. I had planned to make another dish along with the lemon rice but we impulsively decided to go watch Life of Pi in IMAX 3D, and so I stuck to a simple chutney with the rice. The chutney and rice made for a good combo and we didn’t really miss the dish I didn’t make. 😀 

Both the the lemon rice and chutney were very easy to make and didn’t take much time either after the rice had been made. Here’s the recipe I followed and note it’s a bit different from the book.

Lemon Rice

Ingredients –
(Serves 2)
1 cup rice
2tbsp of lime juice
1 tbsp bengal gram dal
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp roasted chick peas
4 red chillies split into two
4 green chillies
1/4 tsp asafoetida
A few curry leaves
 A handful of finely chopped coriander
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp ghee
2 tbsp gingelly oil
Salt to taste

Method –
1. Wash and cook the rice with 1 and 3/4 cup water and a little salt.

2. Cool the rice, add 1 tbsp of ghee and separate the grains so there are no lumps. 

3. In a cup mix the lime juice, a little salt and turmeric.

4. Heat the oil and 1 tbsp of ghee in a wok.

5. To hot oil add the mustard, chick peas, bengal gram, red chillies, green chillies, curry leaves, and asafoetida. 

6. When the mustard starts to splutter and the bengal gram and chick peas are golden brown start adding rice.

7. Add the rice a little at a time while mixing continously so that the rice and seasoning is mixed homogeneously. 

8. Add half the lime juice to this homogeneous mixture and mix well before adding the second part.

9. Check for salt and add more if required.

10. Sprinkle the finely chopped coriander and serve. 

Green Coconut Chutney

Ingredients –
150gms coconut
Fist full of coriander
2 green chillies
1/2 tsp black salt
Salt to taste
3 dry red chillies split into two
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp bengal gram dal
A few curry leaves
1/4 tsp asafoetida
2 tsp oil

Method –
1. Grind the coconut, green chillies, coriander and black salt into a fine paste with just as much water as required. Add salt to taste.

2. Heat the oil and add the red chillies, mustard, bengal gram, curry leaves and asafoetida.

3. When the mustard starts to splutter and the bengal gram is golden brown, remove from flame and add to the ground coconut mix.

4. Mix it well and serve.

Note: If you don’t want a lot of crispness, avoid adding the chick peas and reduce quantity of bengal gram.

Other than chutney or pickle is there anything else that goes well with lemon rice? Should I try something else next time?

*** I am following Meenakshi Ammal’s recipes, however I’m using shortcuts like the cooker, etc. and adding some of my own twist to the recipes. What you see here are my recipes inspired by M. Ammal’s and in no way is Ms. Ammal responsible for its outcome should you choose to try it. Though she was responsible for the brilliant outcome of my dish, so, a big thank you Ms. Ammal for writing Samaithu Par.***

A couple of weeks back I made Mysore Rasam with Drumsticks and we enjoyed it. Che especially since he likes the flavour of drumsticks but not the vegetable. So when Vidya commented and told me to try out the brinjal version, I thought why not. After all, brinjal is another vegetable Che doesn’t like 😀

Mysore Rasam with Brinjal

Ingredients –
(Serves 4 cups)
1/2 cup red gram dhal
1 lime size ball of tamarind
2 cups water
2 small size brinjals
1/8 teaspoon of asafoetida
salt to taste
curry leaves
coriander leaves
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
2 teaspoon bengal gram dhal
6 red chillies pinched into two
6-8 raw peppers (green or dried)
1 teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon ghee
3 teaspoon gingelly oil

Method –
1. Wash and cut brinjals into medium size cubes.

2. Wash and cook dal in a cooker with a little salt and turmeric until very soft.

3. Soak tamarind in warm water. Strain out pulp.

4. Heat 2 tsp oil and fry brinjals until golden brown. Remove from oil and keep aside.

5. In the remaining oil fry coriander seeds, bengal gram and 4 red chillies. Remove from oil and powder fine along with pepper.

6. Drain water from dhal and keep aside. Mash the dhal.

7. In a vessel add the tamarind pulp to two cups of water. Add asafoetida, salt to taste, the fried brinjals and a few bruised curry leaves. Cover and allow the mixture to boil.

8. Add mashed dhal to boiling tamarind water and stir well. Cover and boil for a few minutes before adding the dhal water. Add more water if needed to make it 4 cups quantity. 

9. Bring to a boil again and after a couple of minutes remove from fire.

10. Add the chilli and coriander powder and mix well.

11. Heat 1 tsp of oil and 1 tsp of ghee and fry mustard, 2 red chillies and curry leaves.

12. Pour over the rasam.

13. Finally garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

What other veggies have you tried for rasams? Any recommendations?