Elambuchambu Rasam (Pigeon Pea Broth with Coconut)

This recipe made me a but nervous when I was making it. It seemed like an odd preparation and I wasn't sure how tasty it was going to be. But, in the end, it turned out that the answer was "unreasonably tasty"!

It's lovely on its own (or with a little rice mixed in) and I've also found that it makes a great sauce or topping for other curries. It's warm and a bit spicy with a nice hit of acidity from the lime juice, but without becoming lip-puckering. Just a really delicious, nicely balanced dish. And (in my opinion) it enhances anything you serve it with.

Elambuchambu Rasam

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. skinned split yellow pigeon peas (toovar dal)
• 4 c. water, divided
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro, divided
• 2 tsp. sambhar masala
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground asafetida
• 15 fresh curry leaves
• 1 c. shredded fresh coconut or 1/2 c. shredded dried unsweetened coconut, reconstituted¹
• 2 Tbsp. ghee or canola oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• juice of 2 limes

Directions

1. Thoroughly rinse the pigeon peas, then drain and place in a pot with 1 c. of the water.
2. Bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium-high heat.
3. Skim off any foam, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a separate pot, combine the remaining 3 c. of water with 2 Tbsp. of the cilantro, sambhar masala, salt, asafetida, and curry leaves and bring to a boil over medium heat.
5. Boil the spice water, uncovered, over medium heat for ~15 minutes.
6. Once the pigeon peas are tender, remove from heat and transfer to a blender along with their cooking water and the coconut and purée until creamy.
7. Melt the ghee over medium-high heat.
8. Add the mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they've stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
9. Remove from heat, immediately add the cumin seeds, and sizzle for 5-10 seconds.
10. Pour the tadka into the simmering spice-water mixture and then add the pigeon pea mixture to the pot.
11. Stir in the lime juice, sprinkle with the remaining 2 Tbsp. of cilantro, and serve!

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¹ The instructions for reconstituting the coconut say to soak 1/2 c. of dried coconut in 1/2 c. of boiling water for 10-15 minutes, then drain it. Since I was just going to be blending it anyway I elected to just dump the rehydrated coconut straight into the blender jar, without first draining it. This seemed to work out find in this case. ^Back