I am not a rasam person but I would like to devour a well made Tomato/Thakkali Rasam made in this silver coloured beauty I mean Eeya Chombu(Tin vessel).A couple of decades back almost every house had a Eeya chombu and the family got to taste a flaourful rasam at home.But as time passed by people started to use stainless steel,non stick and ceramic and forgot this old beauty.
There were also rumors that cooking in Eeya Chombu leads to lead poisoning and blah blah blah....So I would like to list out few things which will help us to know why we should use Eeya Chombu in our households.First of all the one we use to cook is made of an alloy of Tin and not Lead(Which is toxic).In Tamil Tin is called Velli Eeyam and Lead is called Kaari Eeyam,i.e both the metal names has eeyam a part of its name and hence the confusion and problem.Also Tin has a very low melting point so care should be taken taken while making rasam in Eeya Chombu.The Eeya Chombu should not be kept empty on the flame as it will start melting.So always ensure the pot is filled with water or liquid before placing it on fire or heat.It is always best to cook on medium or low flame when cooking in Eeya Chombu.
Whenever we make a trip to Trichy or Kumbakonam my mom goes for Eeya Chombu and vegetable shopping.She got 2 pots (one which was melted down by someone who didn't know to cook in Eeya Chombu ) and the other one is still in use at home.Its a small one and serves rasam for 3 people.But now there is no need to travel so far to get an original Eeya Chombu as Zishta(https://goo.gl/dy2MJq) offers a variety of Eeya Chombu s in different sizes and shapes.Simply go to their Facebook shop and buy handmade traditional products with just a click.Their personalized service makes the shopping super easy.
Preparation time:20 mins
Makes rasam for 3 persons
Ingredients:
Tomato-2 no
Tamarind-small gooseberry size(roughly 25 g)
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Asafoetida or Hing-1/2 tsp
Rasam powder-1 tbsp
Toor dal or pigeon peas water-1 cup
Curry leaves-a few
Chopped coriander leaves-a few
salt-to taste
To temper:
Ghee or clarified butter-1 tsp
Mustard seeds-1 tsp
Jeera or cumin -1 tsp
Red chillies-1 no
1.Soak the tamarind and extract the pulp.Chop one tomato into 4 big pieces and grind another tomato to a coarse paste(you can add this tomato also chopped but I would like to grind as it gives a bright red colour).
2.Add the tamarind pulp,chopped tomato,tomato paste and curry leaves to the Eeya Chombu.Add a cup of water and turmeric powder.
3.Add the required salt and asafoetida and mix well.
4.Light the stove and keep the flame to low and bring to a boil and after 10 mins you can see the tomatoes turning mushy or cooked.
5.Now add the rasam powder and dal water with dal mashed in it .
6.Allow the rasam to turn frothy as shown below. Now turn off the flame and add chopped coriander leaves.Immediately close it with a lid to seal the flavour.
7.Now heat ghee and add the ingredients mentioned to temper and once the mustard seeds splutter add it to the rasam and serve hot with rice,poriyal and applam .
yummm...Your Eeya chombu thakkali rasam is ready!
Notes:
1.You can make any rasam of yoyr choice in Eeya chombu.
2.Rasam powder can be replaced with sambar powder.
3.You can add a tsp of freshly grounded pepper and cumin powder alomg with rasam powder for enhanced falvour.
4.Do not heat the Eeya Chombu empty.The pot will melt.Always add water and heat it in low flame.
5.Adjust the sambar powder or rasam powder amount according to the spice level of the powders.