Made using the highly medicinal and fragrant karpooravalli leaves, this rasam is nourishing, healing, nutritious and very delicious. Enjoy it as a light soup or with some hot rice and ghee. Karpooravalli rasam is a great digestive and decongestant. Some of the other names for this leaf are doddapatre, ajwain, and omavalli.
Thanks to my cousins who gave us this extremely useful plant in the US!
Ingredients (serves 4):
- Rasam powder (1 heaped tsp)
- Karpooravalli leaves (a handful, 10-12 medium sized leaves)
- Tomato (1 medium sized)
- Tamarind (1 tsp paste)
- Black pepper powder (to taste)
- Turmeric (haldi) powder (1/4 tsp)
- Asafetida (hing) powder (a generous pinch)
- Garlic (1 pod)
- Ghee (1 tsp)
- Sugar (1/2 tsp)
- Salt (to taste)
- Cumin seeds (1/2 tsp)
- Mustard seeds (1/2 tsp)
- Curry leaves (a handful)
Method:
- Wash and dry karpooravalli leaves well.
- Boil the leaves with the chopped tomato in water, along with salt and turmeric powder, until the tomatoes are well cooked. Set aside and let it cool. Once cool, grind to a smooth consistency.
- Add additional water (if necessary) to the ground leaves and tomato liquid to make the rasam runny and thin.
- Add rasam powder, black pepper powder (optional), asafetida, salt, tamarind, sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce the flame to simmer and keep the flame on for 5-10 minutes.
- In a separate pan, heat ghee on medium flame. When the ghee is hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add cumin seeds, crushed garlic, curry leaves and a pinch of asafetida. Switch off the flame and add this to the rasam.
- Garnish the rasam with chopped karpooravalli leaves and coriander leaves. Serve hot.
Rasas (Tastes):
Sweet (sugar, karpooravalli), sour (tamarind, tomato), salty (salt), bitter (mustard, turmeric), pungent (cumin, pepper, karpooravalli), astringent (asafetida, karpooravalli).
Doshic Influence:
Karpooravalli is great for kapha pacification. The sharp, pungent ingredients in the rasam like black pepper and garlic are also good for kapha pacification. Overall, this rasam makes for a great recipe for pacifying aggravated kapha e.g. during congestion, sore throat, cold, runny nose, cough etc. It is also a great digestive with ingredients like cumin, pepper, karpooravalli, ghee, and asafetida. This rasam is a good antidote for an upset stomach or flatulence or digestive issues in general. Pittas can also enjoy this rasam by going a little easy on the pepper and tamarind. This is good for vatas as well.
Effects on the Mind (Gunas):
This rasam can be considered both rajasic and sattvic, depending on how it is made. If it is made too pungent, salty or sour, it will end up becoming rajasic (stimulating) to the body and mind, which might be what you need, depending on the current season, vikriti etc. Overall, this is a healing, nourishing and sattvic recipe, if the tastes are well balanced and fresh ingredients are used.