Pineapple rasam recipe | Pineapple paruppu rasam

Pineapple rasam is a popular rasam or South Indian soup variety tasting mild sweet and sour with the right amount of spice and flavor. Today I made this Pineapple rasam with added dal(paruppu).

Pineapple is a versatile tropical fruit available all over the world that can be eaten fresh as well as cooked. There are various delicious foods prepared with Pineapple and a few of them are grilled Pineapple, Pineapple kesari, Pineapple rasam, Pineapple cake, Pineapple juice, Pineapple soup, Pineapple pulao, etc.

Pineapple rasam – ingredients and variations

Pineapple – Use well ripe fruit to get the natural mild sweetness that enhances the taste of the rasam. Along with pureed pineapple, few cubed pieces in rasam make it delicious.

Tomato – Tomatoes give the perfect balance of sourness.

Cooked dal – Mashed toor dal. If you don’t like to add cooked dal just skip it. Without dal, the rasam tastes more like SouthIndian sweet and sour tomato pineapple soup.

Spices – Crushed Garlic, peppercorns and cumin seeds. A few split dry red chillies while tempering.

Few tips on making tasty rasam:

• Never boil rasam beyond the frothing point. Overcooked rasam doesn’t taste good.
• Add atleast one souring agent like tamarind, tomato or lemon. If using lemon, add towards the end.
• Freshly crushed rasam masala(garlic, pepper & cumin) always tastes better than readymade stored rasam powder.
• A small amount of cooked dal gives a rich taste.

Health benefits of Pineapple:

• It’s a tropical fruit that’s rich in Vitamin C and antioxidants. Vitamin C is important in iron absorption, skin health, hair health and many more.
• The rich antioxidants in pineapple have anti-cancerous properties.
• Also, pineapple has anti-inflammatory properties that are important in heart health, Alzheimer’s cure and common cold and flu.
• Pineapple improves digestion and helps in healing wounds quickly.

Info source: https://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/8-reasons-eat-pineapple/

Preparation:

• Clean and peel the outer skin of pineapple. Choose aptly ripen pineapple to make the rasam.
• Remove the thick fibers and core hard part of the pineapple and chop into small pieces. We need approximately two cups of pineapple.
• Grind 2 small tomatoes and a cup of pineapple into a coarse paste. Set aside.

• Also crush or pulse 4 garlic cloves with 2tsp of cumin seeds and 2tsp of peppercorns. Set aside.

• Cook and mash toor dal. We need 2tbsp of cooked toor dal. Keep all ingredients ready.

Recipe for pineapple paruppu rasam:

• Heat a tsp of ghee in a pan and add a tsp of mustard seeds, 4 split red chillies and a few fresh curry leaves. Let the mustard seeds pop and splutter. Be careful here with hot oil.

• Add a 1/4 tsp of asafoetida and the next cup of pineapple. Saute well for a minute until pineapple becomes soft.

• Next add tomato pineapple blend with a cup of water. Let this mix cook well for atleast 5mins to remove the raw flavor of tomatoes.

• Add quarter tsp of turmeric powder and 1.5tsp of salt.
• Adjust the consistency of the rasam by adding 2 cups of water.
• Let the pineapple rasam come to a boiling consistency add 2tbsp of cooked toor dal. Also add the garlic pepper crush.

• Mix well and switch off the pineapple rasam when it is frothing. Sprinkle some coriander leaves for extra flavor.

• Serve pineapple dal rasam with hot rice or as a soup.

Tips:

1. Use ripe pineapple to get a nice sweet and sour tasty rasam.
2. Cooked toor dal gives a good balance to the sourness. You can omit dal and make it as plain tomato pineapple rasam.