chettinadu mutton rasam / soup

I just went on a beautiful trip to minneapolis to meet my husband's friends and caught the worst cold ever. A hot and spicy chicken clear soup is often a best remedy to soothe your sore throat. My mom suggested me to make mutton soup in chettinadu style which my aunt taught her few days back. This soup came out very well. usually in chettinadu houses, they make kozhi rasam which they eat it with rice. Hey! folks, kozhi soup is good for cold since i don't take chicken, i have made mutton soup. Though my husband hails from a chettinad family, he is quite an ovo -vegetarian and so anything non vegetarian i have to cook only for myself. Back home in India, my athai cooks wonderful chettinadu dishes but hardly spent a week with her as we moved to US soon after our wedding. Recently, i visited my in law Uma's house in LA where she made all delicious vellapaniyaram, masala paniyaram, fish fries and many more. Both uma and her hubby are great cooks. above all, they are great hosts.

Ingredients

• mutton bony pieces 6
• tomato 1
• Red chilli 3
• black pepper 2tbsp
• cumin seeds 1tbsp
• coriander seeds 1tbsp
• fennel seeds 1tsp
• turmeric powder 1tsp
• garlic 4pods
• tamarind juice 1tbsp
• coriander leaves few
• curry leaves few
• salt to taste
• sunflower oil 2tbsp

Method

• wash and cut the mutton into small pieces
• heat a drop of oil in a small pan and roast the red chillies, pepper, cumin seeds, aniseeds, coriander seeds, garlic and grind it into coarse powder.
• Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a small pressure cooker and add tomato and curry leaves. frywell.
• add mutton pieces and saute well
• Add the ground masala powder, turmeric powder into the mutton pieces .
• add salt to taste.
• add tamarind juice with 6 cups of water. Pressure cook it for 10minutes till you get 4 whistles so that the meat becomes tender.
• finally, garnish with some coriander leaves and serve hot in a soup bowl. you can serve this with rice also.