tomato rasam or tomato chaar

Last week, all of us were suffering from flu, It started with my husband,then passed on to Samy ,then to me ,then finally to poor lil Huddu. Oh God that was an awful time, it felt like somebody was hammering inside my head, and then children were cranky, I was cranky. What bad timing for all of us to fall sick together.....There was a time when I was in school I loved getting sick(yeah I know, I was crazy), but you know that time getting sick came with so many incentives, first and foremost CHUTTI from school :-) ,then all the VIP treatment from everyone at home, mumy used to make gulatti for me(very soft rice,with ghee...yummy),lots of hugs from everybody.Anyways now I hate getting sick, coz now I have got many people who are dependent on me..... its only when you have your kids that you realize what it is to be a parent! Only then you will realize what all your parents went through raising you! Your baby's hurt,hurts you more than your own hurt!!

Here is a song dedicated to all the mothers out there...
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This song is really touching...just listen to each word, it has great meaning!!
Anyways coming back to the topic,so me and my husband needed something really steaming hot to open up our ears and nose that were stuffed, No seriously, I thought I have become deaf, I could not hear anything , this rasam opened up my nose and ears. Its tangy taste keeps your taste buds tingling.
So here are the ingredients

ingredients:
5-6 ripe tomatoes
lemon size ball of tamaring
1 tsp methi seeds
1 tbsp zeera
1 tsp Asafoetida
20-25 peppercorn
2-3 sprigs curry leaves
2 dry red chilly
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp oil
2 flakes garlic
salt





Procedure:

--Wash the tomatoes and tamarind, cut the tomatoes in halves.
--In a saucepan,put the tomatoes and the tamarind and 2-3 cups of water and boil for around 5 to 10 mins.

--Let it cool, then using clean hand, mash the tomatoes and tamarind, strain the juice.Set aside.
--Now on a tawa put zeera ,peppercorns,methi,red chilly,garlic,curry leaves and roast for about 2-3 minutes.
--now in a dry grinder or using mortar and pestle make the above roasted masala into coarse powder
--Now heat oil in a saucepan,when its hot,put the mustard seeds,when it starts spluttering, out the ground masala and fry for about 2 mins or till the fragrance of the masala starts coming,then put the strained juice of tomato,salt and Asafoetida . Let it boil till it foams, remove it from heat as soon as it starts foaming.
--Serve hot with steamed rice, any stir fried vegetable and pappad.