Hot hot Rasam/Tomato soup

I like rasam the simple way. Not too spicy or tangy or sweet or sour. Just a bit of all these tastes is what I need.

Ingredients:

250 gms tomatoes, quartered
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 green chillies, chopped
1 lemon-sized ball of tamarind
1 tbsp jaggery
1 tspn mustard seeds
10 curry leaves
1 red chilli broken into two
1 tspn coriander seeds – roasted & powdered
1 tspn cumin seeds – roasted & powdered
2 tsps peppercorns – roasted & powdered
Asafoetida powder (optional)
½ tbsp oil

Preparation time: 5 mins Cooking time: 20 mins

Extract the pulp of tamarind by soaking it in a cup of hot water. In the meantime boil the tomatoes, chillies and garlic in 4 cups of water. Then add the ground spices, jaggery and tamarind pulp and simmer for about 15 minutes. Heat the oil in another vessel and let the mustard seeds go splutter- splutter. Add the curry leaves, red chilli, asafoetida powder and onion and fry for a minute. Pour it over the tomato soup. Serve hot or serve cold. It still has its taste all preserved. Yummy rasam, this is!