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Veppampoo rasam
Neem flower rasam
வேப்பம்பூ ரசம்: thin tamarind rasam with neem flowers fried crisp in ghee
Puthandu, the Tamil New Year in mid-April, falls when neem trees across Tamil Nadu are in flower, and the festive lunch has a little bitterness on purpose, to remind everyone that the year will bring both sweet and bitter. Veppampoo rasam does it gently: dried neem flowers are fried in ghee until crisp and stirred into a light tamarind rasam with pepper and cumin. It is thin, warming and sour, with a toasty bitter finish, and it is poured over rice or sipped from a tumbler. The common mistake is burning the flowers; they turn from golden to black in seconds and taste acrid, so have the rasam ready before you heat the ghee. The rasam is ready when it froths up to the top of the pan; take it off before it reaches a rolling boil. Chef's tip: fry a few extra flowers and scatter them over each serving for crunch.
- Total time
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the rasam
- ½ oz tamarindseedless block
- 2 cups warm water
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp black pepper and cumin seedsequal amounts, coarsely crushed
- 1 tsp jaggery
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¾ cup water
- 1 tbsp fresh corianderchopped
For the tempering
- 1 tbsp ghee
- ½ tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 dried red chillibroken
- 1 pinch gluten-free asafoetida (hing)
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Soak ½ oz tamarind in 2 cups warm water for 10 minutes, squeeze well and strain, keeping the liquid.
10 minStep 2: Pour the tamarind water into a pan with ¼ tsp ground turmeric, 1 tsp black pepper and cumin seeds, 1 tsp jaggery, ¾ tsp salt and 8 curry leaves. Simmer over a medium heat for 8–10 minutes until the raw tamarind smell has gone.
10 minStep 3: Add ¾ cup water and heat until a froth rises to the top of the pan, then turn the heat off at once.
3 minStep 4: Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a small pan over a medium heat. Add ½ tsp black mustard seeds and, when they pop, add 1 dried red chilli and 1 pinch gluten-free asafoetida (hing). Lower the heat, add 1 tbsp dried neem flowers (veppampoo) and stir for 20–30 seconds until the flowers turn golden and crisp.
2 minStep 5: Pour the tempering into the rasam, add 1 tbsp fresh coriander, cover and leave for 2 minutes. Serve hot with rice.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 60 kcal
- Protein
- 1 g
- Carbs
- 7 g
- Fat
- 4 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does veppampoo rasam take?
- About 30 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of ground turmeric?
- Leave it out (it mostly adds colour).
- What can I use instead of black pepper and cumin seeds?
- Ground cumin, three quarters of the amount (add it with the other ground spices, not to hot oil first).
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