Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Kali Tori Rasam With Kokum.


"Kali Tori Rasam With Kokum" ..... A delicious spicy saar / rasam prepared from the cooked and strained liquid of Kali Tori / Black Tori / Pigeon Peas .... Easy one, to serve with hot rice ...... Yumz ...

Kali Tori as familiar in Konkani are pigeon peas, a sun dried pulse available in plenty. It does have a slightly sweetish taste when cooked. Two varieties, white and black are available. By and large the black ones are used in preparation of curries. I have already posted many recipes using Kali tori. Please check on the label column for the same. Kali tori needs to be soaked overnight or for about 8 hrs before cooking them. The water in which the tori is cooked is strained and rasam / saar is prepared out of the same. For the curry you only need the cooked pulse. So the next time you cook any pulse, do not throw away the water in which the pluses are cooked, sieve it and prepare rasam / saar out of it. I never discard it, for that mater I think no one does. Again there are many varieties in which you can prepare the saar, also season it with either karbev-sasam or losun. Depends on individual taste too. Today I prepared rasam out of the cooked water of kali tori by adding in sambar powder. Easy and fast and yummy with rice too. If you do not desire to relish it with rice you can always drink it steaming hot as an appetizer too.


How to obtain the Kali Tori Saaru : Pick and clean one cup of kali tori and soak in plenty of water overnight or for at least 8 hours. Wash and rinse again in plenty of water and put it in a pressure cooker with water an inch above the level of the tori. Pressure cook the tori to 2-3 whistle or till done. Now you can either let the pressure fall on its own and then gently open the lid or follow the method which I usually do. I leave aside for pressure cooker for a good 4-5 hours as it is. The water in which the kali tori is cooked gets thickened if you keep this untouched for a few hours. Then I add about 2-3 glasses of water to it and mix well. This sort of cleans the cooked tori and gives you good saar. Now strain the cooked liquid from the kali tori / pigeon peas into another vessel. Use the cooked kali tori to prepare any curry and use the cooked water to prepare spicy saar. Never discard the cooked water, you can always store it fridge and prepare the same withing two days.



Now to prepare the Kali Tori Rasam : Bring the cooked kali tori water, say about 5-6 glasses in all to a boiling point. Lower the heat and add in 5-6 sun-dried kokum after rinsing them. Add salt to taste and 1 tblsp of prepared hing water**. If gummy hing is not available to prepare the hing water and you always use powdered hing then leave out the addition of the same and you can add it in seasoning / tempering. Let the saar to which kokums are added simmer for 5 minutes. If kokum is not available you can add in 1 tsp of tamarind paste or 2 finely chopped tomatoes too. Here I have used kokum as they impart a goo tangy taste.












For Tempering : Heat 2 tblsp of oil in a small pan, when hot lower the heat to medium and add in 1 tsp of mustard seeds, when they begin to splutter add in 8-10 curry leaves and 2 tblsp of sambar / rasam powder. If adding hing powder add in 1 tsp of it along with the sambar powder.


Fry for a few seconds. Sprinkle some saar if you find it too dry and getting burnt. Remove and pour it over the simmering saar / rasam


Mix the saar well with the tempering. Let the rasam / saar simmer for a good 10-15 minutes. If you find the rasam bit too thick you can add in another glass of water. Just check the consistency properly before you add in the water. Kali Tori Rasam With Kokum is done. Remove and garnish it with an handful of finely chopped coriander leaves. Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes for the flavours to seep in. Serve piping hot with rice and some bhaji or as an appetizer / soup. Tastes awesome specially during winter and rainy season. 


** For the black tori / black pigeon peas Saar and Upkari Recipe, Please follow the link given below …….. 


** Prepared Hing Water : Hing water is prepared by putting a small marble sized gummy hing (available in South Indian Stores) into a glass bottle and adding about a small cup of boiled and cooled water to it. Within a few hours the hing will slowly melt and you will get a thick whitish liquid. This is hing water. You can keep this in the fridge and use sparingly as and when needed. We GSB / Saraswat Konkani people usually prepare the same and keep it in the fridge always and use the same for dal, patrado or any other hummana etc

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