Black pepper… The king of Indian spices… Expensive and used by the rich and privileged says the spice history. Trade routes to India were developed to acquire this black gold thus changing the economy and flavor of ancient India. The famous mulligatawny soup arose from this precious spice which was used in the cooking of an Indian adaptation of a soup. The name is a corruption of “milagu thannir” or pepper water and today this has evolved into a soup recipe that no more resembles its original.
I got out of bed today to a wet grey morning. Light drizzles and pleasant cool breeze hit my face as I opened the windows…. A feeling totally forgotten in rain starved Chennai. I decided to prepare “more sathumuthu” or the butter milk rasam a favorite in my maternal home on wet and rainy days. This is a simple rasam made with fresh buttermilk and pepper. The combination is so divine and when poured over hot rice and eaten, the heavenly feel definitely has to be experienced.
RECIPE
- Butter milk – 1 cup
- Pepper – 1 tsp
- Red chilly – 3
- Red gram dal – 2 tsp
- Curry leaves
- Asafoetida a pinch
- Ghee – 1 tsp
- Salt to taste
Churn the butter milk with a pinch of turmeric and required salt and set it aside. Dry roast pepper, chilly and dal. Pulverize to a fine powder. Add it to the buttermilk mixture and mix well. Heat this on a low flame, stirring constantly. Ensure that the mixture just becomes warm and should not boil. Remove it from the fire. Temper it with mustard seeds and curry leaves. A delicious pepper flavored rasam is ready to eat.
