Vepampoo Rasam / Neem flower Rasam

This is one of the easiest and flavorful rasams I have come across and it is my mil’s recipe. The most difficult part about this rasam is soaking the toor dal and extracting tamarind juice, which is simplified even more if you use tamarind paste and cooked dal. 🙂 Neem flowers are supposed to have slight bitterness to it, but this is not at all bitter. ( If you prefer some bitterness, feel free to add more vepam poo than specified in the recipe). The sourness from the tamarind and spice from the chillies balances out any bitterness that the vepam poo brings to this dish.In fact it tasted pretty much similar to our usual rasam and I was pretty surprised when my mil said she did not add any rasam powder to it.

We use dried neem flowers in this recipe. It should be available in grocery stores in India. It is also pretty simple to make if you want to do it yourself. My mil has a neem tree outside her house in Chennai and she she told me that she spreads a cloth in the ground and collects the flowers which is then dried in the sun and used in recipes like these. So if you come across neem flowers somewhere , you can air dry it in the sun and store it in an airtight container for few months. Neem flowers are super healthy and they help flush out the toxins from your body.

4 from 1 vote

Print

Vepam poo Rasam

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Total Time

25 mins

 

Dried neem flower rasam/ soup made served with rice or on its own as soup

Course: Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: South Indian

Author: cookingwithpree

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp dried vepam poo / neem flowers
• 1 tbsp size tamarind soaked in 1/2 cup hot water for sometime Or use tamarind paste say about 1 tbsp of paste and make 2 cups tamarind water
• 1/2 cup toor dal soaked in hot water for 30 minutes
• 2 to matoes pureed
• 1 tbsp sesame oil Use ghee if not vegan
• 4 dried red chillies use more if you want it spicy
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• salt to taste

Instructions

Method:

1. Extract 2 cups tamarind juice from the soaked tamarind. ( To do that – Crush the soaked tamarind with your hand and filter the juice, add some more water to the pulp and repeat the process again, until you get 2 cups of tamarind water)
2. Add the pureed tomato, tamarind water, little salt to your instant pot.
3. Place a trivet inside the IP and keep a smaller vessel on top of the trivet. Add the soaked toor dal, turmeric powder and little salt to the inner vessel. Add enough water inside the vessel to cook the dal.
4. Cook on manual high for 12 minutes. Release pressure naturally. ( If you have already cooked dal, add it to the tomato and tamarind puree directly and cook on manual high for 7 minutes and release pressure after 4 to 5 minutes. You can avoid Pot in pot if you have already cooked dal)
5. After you release the pressure add the cooked dal to the tamarind- tomato mixture and switch on the saute mode. Let it cook until it becomes frothy.
6. Meanwhile, heat a small tadka pan and add the oil. Once it heats up, add the neem flowers and fry them in the oil until they turn dark brown and crispy. It only takes few seconds. Add it the Rasam. (Use ghee to fry the neem flowers if not vegan)
7. Add a little bit more oil to the tadka pan and make another tempering with mustard seeds, curry leaves, cumin seeds, asafoetida, and red chillies. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add it to the rasam as well and switch off.
8. Serve hot with rice or enjoy it as such as a soup!