Hot and spicy traditional South Indian thin vegan soup with cumin, pepper, and curry leaves flavor popularly known as Jeera Milagu Rasam. Check out my version of this detox rasam recipe with the detailed video.
I know I am posting back to back rasam recipes on Fridays. As I mentioned in the video, I couldn’t think of any other recipes this winter except for a warm and comforting bowl of rasam. Also, I wanted to share at least a handful of rasam varieties this winter. So I am continuing with my rasam series.
I love all the rasam varieties but this one loaded with cumin and pepper has a lot of medicinal values like the ginger rasam. It helps in digestion, and it’s soothing for common cold and flu. This rasam is an excellent detox rasam and also a perfect pathiya rasam for lactating moms. You can skip the toor dal while making this rasam for the nursing moms.
Jeeragam/Seeragam means cumin seeds in Tamil and Milagu/Milahu means whole pepper in Tamil. As the distinct flavor of the rasam comes from cumin seeds and pepper, we call this as Jeera Milagu Rasam. We also make milagu rasam or pepper rasam where the cumin seeds measure is comparatively less than this rasam.
Adding garlic to jeera milagu rasam:
In our household, we don’t add garlic in rasam most of the time. But you can always add two to three crushed garlic for additional flavor. My mom makes exclusive garlic rasam where she adds close 10 garlic cloves and also adds one or two while grinding. I will soon share both garlic rasam and pepper rasam recipes.
Why soaking and grinding instead of dry roasting and grinding?
I learned this recipe from my mom, and I agree the peppercorns, cumin seeds, toor dal, and curry leaves traditionally are dry roasted and then ground into a smooth paste. Also, you soak the tamarind and extract the juice. But I skipped all those steps and soaked it all together for 15 minutes and then ground into a smooth paste. Are you wondering why? Just for sake of convenience. When it is soaking I don’t need to check on it I can continue with my other cooking chores. We liked it taste-wise hence soaking and grinding became my preference.
Adding asafoetida and tempering-
Ok, traditional jeera milagu rasam recipe doesn’t call for asafoetida. But I have included in this recipe of mine. I got used to adding asafoetida to all my dishes and it has become a habit. Also, we like the flavor of it.
Now, why traditional jeera rasam don’t call for asafoetida? Because asafoetida has the tendency to overpower the taste of cumin and pepper. That’s why. You can try this rasam with and without asafoetida.
Also, when we make rasam in the traditional tin vessel, we cannot temper it in the beginning and we always temper it in the end. You can check my paruppu rasam post for making rasam in eeya sombu. As you can see, I tempered it separately in the end. But for this rasam, I tempered it in the beginning. I just wanted to make it a one-pot recipe. Again convenience came first. :-) You can add the tempering towards the end and that enhances the flavor for sure.
Cooking is all about finding that balance and what your family likes. I love traditional recipes but I do add my own twist to it sometimes.
I have used a lot of curry leaves for this rasam which makes the color of this rasam slightly difference and also it makes the rasam a bit thick. We like this flavor, but you can adjust the curry leaves quantity according to your taste preference, but I would recommend adding at least ten curry leaves for this recipe. You can make the rasam thinner by adding one more cup of water.
Now without any further ado, here is the video recipe and the detailed written recipe. I know I am repeating this, but I have to say this for my new readers. If you haven’t subscribed to my channel, please do subscribe. I try to share new videos every Friday. So stay tuned for new recipes.
Ingredients:
- To grind:
- Whole Pepper – 1 tbsp
- Cumin Seeds – 2 tbsp
- Curry Leaves – 20
- Toor Dal – 1 tbsp
- Tamarind – Small Gooseberry Sized
- For Tempering:
- Oil – ½ tbsp
- Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
- Jeera – ½ tsp
- Hing – ¼ tsp
- For Rasam:
- Tomato- 1
- Kosher Salt – 3 tsps
- Turmeric- ⅛ tsp
- Chopped Cilantro- 2 tbsp
- Powdered/Crushed Jaggery – ¾ tsp
- Water – 4 cups
Prep-Work:
- Soak the ingredients given under “To Grind” in 1 cup of water for 15 mts. Drain the water after 15 minutes and grind into a coarse paste.
- Chop the tomatoes and cilantro and set aside.
Steps:
- Heat a pan or pot and add the oil.
- When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and hing.
- When the mustard seeds splutter, add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, and salt and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Then add the ground paste and 1 cup of water and bring it to a rolling boil. The rasam mixture will thicken, but that’s normal.
- Then add the remaining three cups of water and the chopped cilantro. At this stage, you can check for the salt. And if required, then adjust accordingly.
- Now simmer this rasam mixture until it becomes frothy on top.
- Turn off the heat when it becomes foamy, and you can add more cilantro and serve hot with rice or relish it as a soup.
Notes:
- This rasam is on the spicier side. Adjust the pepper and cumin amount according to your preference, or you can add more water or jaggery too.
- Jaggery is optional.
- If you are serving this to nursing moms, then ignore the toor dal while grinding the masala and add a garlic pod.
- Depending upon the tamarind age and quality the sourness might vary. So adjust it accordingly. And the same goes for the salt as well.
- Instead of soaking the ingredients to be ground, you can dry roast and grind as well.
- I kept the rasam vegan but you if you are not particular, then you can temper it with ghee/clarified butter.
📖 Recipe
Cumin Pepper Rasam | Jeera Milagu Rasam
Ingredients
To grind:
- 1 tbsp Whole Pepper
- 2 tbsp Cumin Seeds
- 20 Curry Leaves
- 1 tbsp Toor Dal
- Tamarind Small Gooseberry Sized
To Temper:
- ½ tbsp Oil
- ½ tsp Mustard seeds
- ½ tsp Jeera
- ¼ tsp Hing
Other Ingredients:
- 1 Tomato
- 3 tsps Kosher Salt
- ⅛ tsp Turmeric
- 2 tbsp Cilantro Chopped
- ¾ tsp Jaggery Powdered/Crushed
- 4 cups Water
Instructions
- Soak the ingredients given under “To Grind” in 1 cup of water for 15 mts. Drain the water after 15 minutes and grind into a coarse paste. Chop the tomatoes and cilantro and set aside.
- Heat a pan or pot and add the oil.
- When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and hing.
- When the mustard seeds splutter, add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, and salt and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Then add the ground paste and 1 cup of water and bring it to a rolling boil. The rasam mixture will thicken, but that’s normal.
- Then add the remaining three cups of water and the chopped cilantro. At this stage, you can check for the salt. And if required, then adjust accordingly.
- Now simmer this rasam mixture until it becomes frothy on top.
- Turn off the heat when it becomes foamy, and you can add more cilantro and serve hot with rice or relish it as a soup.
Video
Notes
- This rasam is on the spicier side. Adjust the pepper and cumin amount according to your preference, or you can add more water or jaggery too.
- Jaggery is optional.
- If you are serving this to nursing moms, then ignore the toor dal while grinding the masala and add a garlic pod.
- Depending upon the tamarind age and quality the sourness might vary. So adjust it accordingly. And the same goes for the salt as well.
- Instead of soaking the ingredients to be ground, you can dry roast and grind as well.
- I kept the rasam vegan but you if you are not particular, then you can temper it with ghee/clarified butter.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Just eanted to know the role of tamarind which is not given in the steps
Hi Uma, under prep-work, you can notice the role of tamarind. I am soaking it along with other ingredients and grinding it together. Thanks
How long can you keep this rasam in the fridge?
So far I have tried for up to 2 days. Not more than that.
Vidya,
I have one question about the Rasam Chombu. Is it okay to use a vengala chombu? If okay where can I get one? Best.
Aruna.
For rasam, we don’t use vengalam. Basically for tamarind based ones vengalam is not recommended. But it’s good for rice, sweets, upma etc. Zishta online has vengalam and the ones that I have are from my grandma.
Very well explained and great presentation. Loved it
Thanks a lot :-)