Lentils and Tomato Rasam

 Ingredients:

1/4 cup toor dal
1 cup water

a piece of fresh ginger (2 1/2 cm, 1 in), peeled and grated
4 green chills
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
3/4 tsp. black peppercorns
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
salt to taste
2 tomatoes, quartered
juice of 1 lemon
coriander leaves, chopped to garish
For Seasoning:
2 tsp. ghee
1 tsp. brown mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. asafetida powder
1 red Chile, halved
a few curry leaves

Method:
Wash Toor dal well. Drain. Place dal in a heavy saucepan. Cover with 1 cup water and bring to the boil. When boiling, cover pan with a lid, leaving slightly ajar. Lower the heat, and simmer dal gently for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until soft. Stir several times during the last 30 minutes of cooking. (The water should be mostly gone). Set dal aside without draining. Use the pressure cooker for easy cooking.
Using an electric blender or food processor, blend the fresh ginger and green chills into a paste. Now blend or process the cumin seeds and black peppercorns into a powder. Set both aside.
Place the undrained cooked dal in a heavy saucepan. Add 1 1/2 cups extra water, ground turmeric, salt to taste, and ginger/chili paste. Slowly bring to the boil.
Seasoning:
Heat 2 tsp. ghee in a heavy frying pan or skillet. Add mustard seeds, asafetida powder, halved red chili, a few curry leaves, and pepper/cumin seed powder.  When the mustard seeds splutter, add this mixture to the rasam. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice.
Garnish with cilantro/coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice.

Potato and sweet onion soup

 Ingredients:

6 cups of water
4 small potatoes, cubed
2 medium onions, sliced
2 carrots, diced
1 1/2 oz beans (42 gms)
3 large tomatoes, skinned and cut into cubes
1 clove
2 tbsp. split green peas
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Butter
4 tsp. Grated parmesan cheese
4 level tsp flour
White pepper to taste

 Method:

Combine all the ingredients except for the butter and cheese in a large soup pan and parboil on medium heat till the vegetables are done. Keep aside.
In a non-stick pan heat butter over low heat. Once the butter has melted add the flour to the pan and dry fry the flour for a few minutes. Keep stirring to ensure that the flour does not brown.

To this add the soup along with the vegetables and stir over medium heat for five minutes.Remove from fire and to the soup , add grated cheese. Serve at lunch or dinner.

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