Rasam Masala Powder Recipe

This South Indian spice blend is used in making Pigeon pea soup (Toor Dal) called Rasam

Normally, all the ingredients are roasted one at a time on a hot griddle with Ghee (Clarified butter) and then ground to a powder. I will use pre-heated oven to get comparable results.

Ingredients

1. Cumin seeds: 1 teaspoon

2. Coriander seeds: 2 Tablespoons

3. Curry leaves: 8

4. Fenugreek seeds: 1½ teaspoon

5. Black peppercorn: 10

Use Tellicherry pepper for best flavor.

6. Asafetida powder: 1 teaspoon

7. Decorticated spilt Black Matpe (Dhuli Urad Dal): 2 Tablespoon

8. Decorticated split Chickpeas (Chana Dal): 2 Tablespoon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 250º F.

2. Spread out split beans in a cookie baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes.

3. Add remaining ingredients except Asafetida powder to the beans on the cookie baking sheet. Make sure all the ingredients are uniformly spread out. Asafetida powder is already roasted Asafetida gum that is powdered.

4. Bake another 10 minutes.

5. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and let it cool to a room temperature. Add Asafetida powder before grinding.

6. Grind spices together pounding with Mortar and Pestle. I like to use conical Burr Coffee grinder.

7. Store in a colored jar tightly secured with lid.

Yogi's Notes:

1. I have omitted red chili on purpose. User may add Cayenne powder as needed.

2. User may also elect not to use any beans (Black Matpe, Chickpeas). These beans basically serve as thickeners with some nutty flavor. If your use does not need any thickeners, just avoid these beans and make a more general purpose spice blend.