Shallot Rasam – A simple Kerala pouring curry (Vegan + Gluten Free)

At my parents’ home at Calicut, comes a sprightly old lady named Maniyamma. She started to work as our house maid ever since I was 3 or 4 years of age. Though she is probably in her eighties now, she looks more like 50. Short and stocky, with a smiling visage, she even plays with a skipping rope with children in the family. Yet what impresses one most is her ability to create mouthwatering traditional Nair dishes. She often cooks for marriage feasts, the traditional Malayali sadya – a Kerala banana leaf feast. One of her dishes I love most is mulaku varutha puli or cheriyulli rasam, a fragrant pouring curry for hot rice or for upma. I always find that a take a generous second helping of upma or rice when this shallot rasam is before me. I must confess that both my husband and I found our mouths salivating when we were taking pictures of the curry for you, for such is its aroma. Do cook and enjoy this simple and easy to make dish!

Print Recipe

Shallot Rasam Yum

A delicious Kerala Nair pouring curry, also called mulaku varutha puli or cheriyulli rasam.

Cuisine

Indian, Kerala

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

10 minutes

Servings

servings

Ingredients

• 100 gm shallots peeled
• 10 gm dry hot red chilies
• 20 gm tamarind
• 1 gm mustard seeds
• 30 ml coconut oil
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• 10 gm salt
• 1000 ml water

Cuisine Indian, Kerala Prep Time 30 minutes Cook Time 10 minutes Servings servings Ingredients 100 gm shallots peeled 10 gm dry hot red chilies 20 gm tamarind 1 gm mustard seeds 30 ml coconut oil 2 sprigs curry leaves 10 gm salt 1000 ml water

Instructions

To prepare:

1. Set a cast-iron wok on high heat. Pour in the coconut oil. Tip in the chilies and stir for a minute.
2. Lift out the chilies with a perforated ladle and set aside.
3. Put the shallots into the wok and stir continuously for 5 minutes.
4. Switch off the heat. Lift out the shallots and put them aside along with the chilies.
5. Keep the remaining oil in the wok itself to use later.
6. Put the tamarind into a small pan. Pour in 250 ml of water and put on the stove.
7. As soon as it boils, switch off the heat. When cool, squeeze and sieve the tamarind juice. Discard the fibers and set the juice aside.
8. Break the fried chilies each into 2 or 3 pieces.
9. Put the broken chilies and the shallots into a mortar. Use the pestle to crush them into a coarse paste. If mortar and pestle are not available, just put them into your food processor and grind for 10 seconds.

To cook:

1. Set the cast-iron wok containing the oil back on high heat. Tip in the mustard seeds.
2. As soon as the mustard seeds are about to finish popping, pull the curry leaves off their sprigs and tip them in.
3. Stir once and tip in the shallot-chili paste. Stir continuously for 2 minutes.
4. Pour in the tamarind juice and tip in the salt. Pour in the remaining water (750 ml).
5. Once it comes to a boil, let cook for a minute and then switch off the heat.
6. Your delicious shallot rasam / mulaku varutha puli / cheriyulli rasam is ready to serve. Serve with a pile of steaming hot rice or with upma and enjoy!