Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Southe beeja saaru ( Dosakai seeds Rasam)


Today, I will be sharing with you all a delicious and flavorful rasam. This rasam made from the core (seeds along with the thin flesh surrounding the seeds) of DOSAKAI is mildy spiced and very light on the stomach too. This is yet another of my mum's recipe. She is an amazing cook and the best part about her cooking is that it is delicious and healthy too.






Image from the net
Southe ( in Kannada) ... more commonly called as "Madras kakdi"  or "DOSAKAI"  is a great vegetable. I am referring to it as great because every part of the vegetable can be used in some or the other dish. As seen in the picture, at the center of the vegetable are the seeds (along with soft flesh) surrounded by the vegetable and on the outer side is the skin. After removing the skin and the seeds, the vegetable can be used in sambars, pachadis etc. The amazing thing of this vegetable is that you can also use the skin and seeds for making other dishes. I use the seeds to make rasam . I use the skin of the vegetable to make chutney. In today's post, I will mention the recipe for the rasam made from the seeds. So lets see how we can make it..





INGREDIENTS:
Note: All measurements are based on the US measuring cup and spoon sizes where 1 cup = 235 ml
Serves : 4
  1. DOSAKAI  core(seeds with the surrounding thin soft transparent flesh) - 1/2 cup (in kannada we say "southe bondu")
  2. Little fresh grated coconut (about 4 tbsp)
  3. Dried red chillies (Byadagi variety) - 5 (depending on your spice intake)
  4. Cumin seeds or jeera - 1/2 tsp
  5. A small piece of tamarind (This is only if the yogurt is not too sour)
  6. Little yogurt ( about 5 tbsp)
  7. Salt to taste
  8. Hing - 1/4 tsp
For the tempering , you will need:
  • Ghee / Clarified butter : 1 tsp
  • Cumin seeds / Jeera : 1/2 tsp
  • Dried red chillies (broken) : 3
  • Curry leaves / Kadi Patta : few
METHOD:
  1. Taste the transparent flesh surrounding the seeds to see if there is any bitterness present. If it is bitter, do not make the rasam with it else proceed to the next step.
  2. Grind items 1-6 adding 1/2 cup of water. 
  3. Strain the contents through a fine mesh to remove any coarse bits of the seeds.
  4. Add hing, salt  and whisk well.
  5. Add enough water (approximately 2.5 cups) to adjust the consistency.
  6. Now bring this mixture to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes and turn off the heat.
  7. For the tadka / tempering, heat 1 tsp of ghee. When the ghee is hot, add 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 2 dried red chillies and curry leaves. When the cumin seeds starts to splutter ,turn off the heat and put it to the rasam.
  8. Serve hot with steaming hot rice.

NOTE: You can prepare this rasam with the core (seeds with the thin flesh surrounding the seeds) of CANTALOUPE / Musk Mellon too.

10 comments:

  1. this one is very new to me. This will be tried in my kitchen soon. Thanks for this Shubha.

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  2. @Sush... sure try and lemme know if you enjoyed it:)

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  3. You grind along wid d skin of seeds? will dat not form coarse bits in rasam?this sounds new n never thot of it..:)
    and that flesh would not make rasam bitter??
    hah..I know so many doubts as its completely new 2 me

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  4. @Prathibha: Yep you need to grind the seeds with the skin. As mentioned in thesecond step of the "Method" section, after grinding you need to strain the contents to remove the coarse bits.Before making the rasam, check if the the flesh is bitter. If yes do not make the rasam with it, else make the rasam. I hope it answers some of your questions. Good that you asked these questions. I will fine tune my recipe to make it more clear.Thanks:)

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  5. Well explained.. Yummy looking rasam .innovative..

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  6. It looks delicious Shubha. Definitely a must try. Love it :)

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  7. A new & interesting recipe...............love to try.
    www.tastentips.blogspot.in

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  8. Cantaloupe & Madras Kakdi seed rasam prep is the same! Good.
    Will sure try & get back. TFS ��

    ReplyDelete
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