Tomato Rasam is one of my favorites.
Madhuram of Eggless Cooking gave me a very quick and wonderful recipe for tomato rasam. She suggested the use of tomato paste which I found to be very interesting. I have made this rasam many times and have tweaked it a bit. I find Madhuram's recipes creative but simple and yummy. Check out her blog for some really good recipes for eggless cakes, cookies, etc.
Ingredients:
1 can Tomato paste
1-2 drops of Green Chilli extract
1 drop of Asafoetida extract
1-2 drops of Turmeric extract
2 drops of Garlic extract
1 drop of Ginger extract
1 tsp Rasam powder
!/2 tsp cumin seeds
very little oil
Salt to taste
1 cup of water ( add more if you want a bit thinner rasam)
Cilantro for garnish
Heat the oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and let it splutter. Add tomato paste, water and rasam powder. Stir. Bring it to a boil and then reduce heat. Add turmeric extract, garlic extract, green chilli extract, ginger extract, asafoetida extract. Add salt to taste Let simmer for a minute or two. Take it off the heat. Garnish with cilantro. Serve hot.
Note that I am not using any tamarind. The canned tomato paste is perfect for this easy, breezy rasam :)
Tomato Rasam with extracts
Ayurveda and Spices
I have some very interesting books on Ayurveda and I like to browse through them when I have some time. Yesterday, I was reading about some Classical Ayurvedic formulas and found it interesting that a lot of them had one or more than one spice in its list of ingredients.
For example -
Hingashtak Churna - made of Asafoetida
Eladi Churna - Top 3 ingredients are Cardamom, cloves and Saffron
Lavangadi Churna - contains cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger.
Lashunadi Bati - contains garlic, cumin, asafoetida
Trisugandhi Churna - Cinnamon, cardamom
And the list goes on .
This just shows how spices play a important role in Ayurvedic medicine.
Extracts in Marinades
Have you ever tried using extracts in marinades?
Extracts are perfect in marinades and salad dressings. Since extracts are in liquid form, they are absorbed easily and quickly. The flavor of the spice is absorbed evenly.
Try this very easy Moroccan inspired Marinade with Spice extracts.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 drop of Cinnamon extract
1 drop of Nutmeg extract
1 drop of Clove extract
3-4 drops of Garlic extract
salt to taste
Mix all the ingredients.
This marinade works very well with tofu. Stir fry this marinated tofu with some chopped vegetables. Warm up some of the left over marinade and pour over tofu-vegetable stir fry. Serve with rice.
Also try this marinade for cherry tomatoes, button mushrooms and pineapple chunks.
Extracts in my kitchen
Lot of people ask me whether I use extracts in my own kitchen. And my answer to them is "Everyday in every meal"
The extracts that I use very often are - Ginger, Tea Masala, Cardamom, Garlic, Green Chilli, Asafoetida, Turmeric. And, of course, Tulsi. I have hot Tulsi water at least 4-5 times a week.
Every afternoon I have either Masala chai, Cardamom chai or Ginger chai. Depends on my mood.
My husband loves the Green Chilli extract. This extract gives him full control over how hot and spicy his curry should be :)
Now that festival season is coming close, I will use my Kesar Milk and Saffron extracts more.
Garlic extract
My daughter hates garlic.
Which kid doesn't? But we Moms know the benefits of Garlic and want our kids to eat it.
I think the best way to get garlic into kids system is to hide it in sauces, dips, curries, etc. This is where Supreme Spice Garlic extract comes extremely handy. Add a drop or two in your kids meal and they won't even know that they are getting all the health benefits of garlic.
1 drop of Supreme Spice Garlic extract = 1 clove of garlic
If your kid comes back from school with a runny nose, increase his/her garlic intake to improve their immunity.
Garlic is a natural antibiotic, an excellent stimulant and protects and builds up the digestive power.
