Luscious Celery Rasam- vegan, gluten free
Rasam, the South Indian equivalent of soup, with its spices aimed to promote digestion and tangy taste always makes up a perfect side in a traditional meal. A touch of turmeric with black pepper, that potentiates the anti inflammatory properties of curcumin present in turmeric, along with coriander, red chili, rasam is medicinal, yet delicious.
My typical rasam is tomato or tamarind based with turmeric, plenty of black pepper and coriander powder. I decided to refresh the rasam in terms of its color, taste, flavors, aroma and boost the nutrition content. Celery checked off my boxes really well. Right from the rasam started simmering to the last drop on their plates, my kids loved it inside out.
From a health standpoint, celery has lots of water, fiber and antioxidants. Fiber is your forever best friend and any opportunity to increase its intake should be absolutely pursued. Somewhere in middle ages, celery was actually used for joint problems, anxiety, insomnia. It is much later in 16th century, when it was first used as food in Italy and then spread across Europe very quickly. Celery juice, the happening health drink, sadly takes the fiber out, which is vital for the gut. This rasam is an alternative to increase your fiber intake with the nutrients in celery.
Luscious Celery Rasam
Equipment
- Blender
- Pressure cooker – optional
Ingredients
- 3 stalks celery chop each stalk into 4-5 pieces
- 1/4 cup moong dal to be cooked
- 3 green chili sliced length wise
- 3 shallots or 1/4 cup red onion sliced
- 1 carrot chopped length wise
- 1 bell pepper chopped of your choice
- 5 cups water
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp black pepper ground
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 2 Tbsp lime juice
For tempering
- 2 dry red chilies
- 1 stem curry leaves- fresh
- 1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp ginger finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp oil I use cold pressed avocado oil
Instructions
- Cook moong dal with 1 cup water in a pressure cooker or stove top.
- Add chopped celery, cooked moong dal along with any left over water in the cooker to a blender jar and blend till liquid with smooth consistency and lovely green color is attained.
- Take a deep pan or soup pot, add oil. Once hot, add the ingredients for tempering. After the mustard seeds start spluttering, add ginger, shallots, green chilies, carrots, bell peppers. After 3 -4 min, add the blended moong dal , celery mixture.
- Add the remaining water. You can add more water per your desired consistency. Add salt, black pepper ,coriander powders. Mix well and let it simmer for 10-15 min.If you see any foam/froth- use a ladle to remove and discard it. The foam is a result of air that goes in with high speed blending.
- Add chopped cilantro leaves. Take off from the stove. After 10-15 min, add the lime juice.
- Serve hot with rice, or it is yummy enough to just grab a bowl and eat with a spoon.
