Number 'three' always has a special place. 3 Gods (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva) and 3 Goddesses (shakti, Lakshmi, Saraswathi) are considered supreme as per hinduism. Three steps of Lord Vishnu in vamana avatar, Three eyes of lord shiva, trisul of lord shiva and shakti, 3 charachteristics (satva, rajas, tamas gunas), 3 parts of time (past, present, future), the sacred ash worn as three lines by shiva devotees, three humors of the body (vata, pita, kapa), 3 top medicines (sukku, milagu tippili i.e. Dry gigner, Black peppercorns and Long pepper known as tirikadugam in tamil) etc....
With the goodness of the three making my post this year a "3 Treasure Rasam". I mentioned treasure becuase the 3 of the ingridients used in this rasam has excellent medicinal power viz., Dry ginger, Black peppercorn and Long Pepper.
Dry ginger = Sukku (tamizh), Sunth (hindi)
Black peppercorn = Milagu (tamizh), Kali mirch or kali miri (in hindi)
Long pepper = Thippili (tamizh) , Pippili (hindi).
Dry ginger and black peppercorn is available in any grocery shop in India. But the Long pepper is availble mostly with the shop selling indian medicines known as 'naatu marundu kadai' or 'Jadi boothi dhukan'
Buy them and store in fridge for it to stay fresh and longer period without the worry of the insect raid. Always make the mix fresh when using in recipes for medicinal purposes. Long pepper used here is called 'arisi tippili' which is a fruit of a tree and is used for cold and respiratory diseases.. Kandathippili is root and is used to cure digestive problems.
This is a Rasam recipe which comes handy when one is ill. Specially during cold and flu time. Quick and easy. I used kokam (kodampuli / kodai puli) as it is the native tamarind of our land which is very good for health at all times. The term old tamarind refers only to this and not the old stock of regular tamarind. In medicinal world the regular tamarind is called 'new tamarind' - pudu puli (tamizh) and pazhaya puli (old tamarind) means Kokam.
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| Arisi tippili / |
To make the rasam delicious, I am adding other regular ingredients. Lets get on to the yummy rasam making.
Ingredients :-
- Dry ginger - 1/4" piece
- Black peppercorn - 10 nos
- Long pepper - 3 to 4 Nos.
- Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
- Curry leaves - 5 nos.
- Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 tsp
- Coriander Seeds - 1 tsp
- Asafoetida - a pinch or less than 1/4 tsp
- Turmeric Powder - 2 pinches
- Kokam - 3 pieces
- Water - 2.5 cups
- Salt to taste
- Jaggery shredded - 1/4 tsp
- Ghee - 2 tsp
- Mustar seeds - 1 tsp
Procedure :-
- Dry roast Dry ginger, Black peppercorn, Long pepper, Cumin seeds, Curry leaves, Fenugreek seeds and Coriander seeds.
- Powder the dry roasted ingredients
- Heat Ghee in a pot, add the mustard seeds. After it splutters add water.
- Now add the ground powder, turmeric powder, asafotida powder, kokam, salt, jaggery.
- Bring to boil. Lower the flame and let it boil for 2 minutes.
- Our 3 treasure Rasam is ready to be consumed as a soup or with plain hot white rice.
Generally when one is sick, always provide them with easily digestible food. The combo of dry ginger, pepper and long pepper is advised to be administered commonly for any ailment.
3 cheers!
wish you all a Prosperous, Happy and Healthy 2014.
Starting my journey into the 4th year....................