Reg's Rasam Soup

This Rasam recipe (also known as Charu) has a distinctive south Indian flavour and clearly takes Reg back to his days as a naughty, rural Indian boy. The video compliments the recipe well, and even explores Reg's musical side! Work it Reg!

Useful Reg advice:
"Charu and rice is enough for a poor man's food."
"Charu is used in poetry to indicate a soft, gentle and elegant. Like a moon."
"Heat the liquid part until the tamarind is fully dissolve."
"Also, there is a song..."


Preparation time: 5 minutes               Cooking time: 15 minutes               Spice level: About avereg.


Ingredients (Serves up to 4 people)
For the liquidy part:
½ Finely chopped onion
1 Large chunk of tamarind
1 tspn turmeric
2 tspns salt
4 cups of water
For the tempering:
1 tspn poppy seeds
1 tspn mustard seeds
1 tspn cumin seeds
1 tspn coriander seeds
1 dry red chilli
2 cloves of garlic
Small bunch of fresh coriander


Instructions
Start with the liquidy part: Pour the water into a large pan, then add the tamarind, onion, turmeric and salt. Place onto a hob and leave to boil for approximately 10 minutes until the tamarind chunk has completely dissolved. At this stage, you can add any vegetables you want, for example tomatoes, to create a thicker soup.
Then the Tempering: Place a few tablespoons of oil into a wok and heat. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and stir, then add your thali mix (poppy, mustard, cumin and coriander seeds). With scissors, cut the dry red chilli directly into the wok and stir for another minute.
Now to combine: Rip off some coriander leaves and place them into the liquidy rasam, then pick up this pan and pour the soup into the wok, so a satisfying sizzle occurs. Stir through, and you're ready to Rasam!


Optional additions: Can be served over warm or cold rice, can be eaten alone as a soup, or you can add and cook in vegetables to the soup to make it a meal of its own.