Charu Podi/Rasam Powder

Charu is Telugu version of Rasam. Charu is a sour liquid preparation usually had as a side with Rice. It is very common to make various kinds of Rasam on a daily basis in many south Indian households. At my home I would make Charu/ Tomato Charu almost every day. In between Sambar will take it's place and once in a while  Pacchi pulusu (Tamarind soup with raw onions) will jump in. Pls. check Raw mango Pacchi Pulusu recipe on my blog.

To make Charu/Rasam my mom makes a special Podi which she wrote down in the cook book she prepared for me, when I was coming to US.Like a good student for years I have been using that recipe to make Charu/Rasam. Once in a while being lazy to make this, I would use store bought powder. Then I will regret and make this recipe again.The powder gives the Charu amazing taste and no store bought powder can give you this.

You can serve this Charu along with Rice and some kind of curry/Poriyal. Try my Anaheim Chili Moongdal curry or Potato stir fry when you make Rasam with this powder.It would be finger licking good.I will soon be posting Charu recipes on the blog.

Servings:
About 3/4 th cup of Masala
Total time:
30 minutes
Category:
Powders/Podi
Author:
Praveena Gudipati

Ingredients: (I use US standard measuring; 1cup=8oz=250ml)
1/4 cup Toordal (Kandipappu)
1/4 cup Coriander seeds (Dhaniyalu)
1/8 cup Cumin seeds(Jilakara)
8 Red chillies (Endu Mirchi)
15 Black Pepper corns (Miriyalu)
2 inch Cinnamon (Chekka)
little salt

Charu Podi/Rasam Powder step-by-step Recipe 

1. Heat a pan and dry roast all the spices. Add Toor dal first, after couple minutes add coriander seeds. After a minute add cumin seeds, cinnamon, red chillies, peppercorns.
2. Roast everything till browned.
   
3. Blend all to make a powder.
4. Store it in a container.
5. When you make Charu/Rasam add about 2 tbsp powder to 3 cups water. You can add more powder if you want.Also you can add additional pepper powder if you want the Rasam to be more spicy.
   

Tips: 

• You can also add some fried curry leaves while blending.

Related Recipes:

• Tomato Charu (Tomato Rasam telugu style)
• Charu (Tamarind Rasam)
• Raw Mango Charu (Raw mango Rasam)
• Nimmakaya Charu (Lemon Rasam)
• Vegetable Chutney Powder
• Sambar Powder
• Pulihora Pulusu Recipe (Tamarind Paste for Pulihora)