Our Simple 'rasam' Of South India

However grand the feast be, whatsoever items we have in the wedding feast we long for Amma's 'Rasam'- a simple watery dish, a delicacy of South India.

We think of rasam being prepared in a small vessel or lead pot for 4 or 5 people.But kings have to plan a lot for large scale cooking.In Tanjore palace, there was a particular method by which the Chief cook was appointed.

People would be informed about the appointment of chief cook by Tandora. Intending candidates were listed & based on the confidential reports received from reliable sources they were shortlisted.Such candidates were asked to prepare one or two food items & finally 3 persons were shortlisted.Final selection of the candidate was done by a strange process.

There were 3 empty tanks( Kulams) specifically constructed for the purpose & the tanks were of the size of 15 ft x15ft with a depth of 10 feet. The 3 Short listed candidates had to prepare PEPPER-CHEERAKA RASAM upto the level of 5 feet in the tank.Tamarind water, Salt, Chillies etc were to be added in the correct proportion & the RASAM had to be boiled directly under the heat of the sun for 72 hours,without being externally heated by any other method.Pepper-cheeraka- toor Dal mixture also had to be added at the appropriate intervels.

On the 73rd hour three RASAM TASTERS of the palace tasted the rasam prepared by all the 3 shortlisted candidates & based on their recommendations ,final selection was made.
The item is a very simple one. But the quantity was huge.Roughly the volume of RASAM to be prepared by each person was 15ftx15ftx5ft i.e 1125 cubic feet or31848.75 litres to be exact.(28.31 litres per cubic feet),nearly 3 huge lorry loads of RASAM!!( Chennai people,used to water scarcity, may know how much will a sump hold and exact calculation.)

A simple record showing the selection process finds a place in THANJAVUR ARANMANAI KURIPPUGAL ( Tanjore palace records)

May be the king wanted to test their sense of CORRECT ESTIMATION, APPROXIMATION & common Sense while preparing large quantities..
However certain basic doubts arise in us.
What would happen if it started raining in the middle of the process?or the heat is not intense enough for the process?
How they would have disposed 95000 litres of RASAM prepared on a single day?Even if all the residents of the kingdom were allowed to take the rasam in big pots,the tanks would not become empty. Or perhaps the rich palace might not mind throwing barrels of rasam.

While there are so many varieties of food items, what made the king choose this simple RASAM & a novel method of testing the efficiency of the Chief cook?
How is it that the king,who was adept in all the fields, could not think about these simple problems?
When I was contemplating about all these things ,the reply also dawned on me.

The selection process adopted is very open and brooks no nepotism.The proof of the pudding is always in the eating. The ability to cook for large numbers
during official feasts,religious feasts and during the days of famine,
drought and enemy siege, has to be proved thus.
Even today in Maariamman temples during festive feasts
such large scale cooking takes place for 'kumbam padaiyal' a relic
of the old tradition,perhaps.
In war times,sieges used to last for days at a stretch.People
will be confined to the fort.Feeding them is King's responsibility.That is why almost all temples have granneries built in the outer prakaras.
The chieftain Paari, it seems, trained birds to bring paddy stalks
from the fields outside the fort,to gather the paddy required during
a siege by the great three,Chera,Chola and Pandya Kings.
Among the traditional Tamil food items Rasam has a longer
shelf life,esp. when kept in mud pot.
Works like Agha Naanooru,Purapporul Venpa Maalai and others speak of the
many and varied items of food preparations in the days yonder.
This preparation, when made into a thick syrup, can also serve as medicine more like what
is known as kashaayam.Public could save and use it when needed.
As regards interference of rain etc. the royal astrologer has
to fix such a day when there would be least interference by nature.
Despite this if it rains there is always another day for the trials!
Today I prepared Cheeraka rasam and paruppu thuvaiyal and my
husband enjoyed it a lot and took two cups of plain rasam.
This prompted me to write the snippet.

jayasala 42

 

Dear Srama,
Thank you for the nice response.Even when we went on tour with my young children,I used to make rice and Rasam in the hotel room,since hotel food cannot be digested by children.When one is ill, Amma used to make 'kottu rasam' without adding dhal,It will be mild tamarind with pepper powder and hot water.We used to love that rasam.

Jayasala 42

 

Yes,Lakshmi Madam.There is a difference in serving.Madhwa community people serve Rasam as the first item, sambar next;whereas in Tamilnadu, rasam follows sambar.Thank you for the response.

Jayasala 42

 

Dear Viji,
Thanks for the response.Rasam is always yummy.Girls used to be taught to make rasam first since the in-laws can be attracted with the taste of Rasam, the DIL makes.
Rasam made in eeya sombu is famous. A little carelessness will make the sombu and rasam vanish in seconds.Many DILs have been abused for melting the eeya sombu.I have got two eeya sombus at home, one for rasam and another for butter milk.

jayasala 42

 

Dear Joylokhi,
True.Not even a single day passes without rasam.Rasam rice either with paruppu thugaiyal or sutta appalam will be a nice combination.The appalam must be prepared on a coal stove,kumatti aduppu.it is a just a skill to rotate appalam , show it against the flames quickly and ensure that it is not charred.Now a days we have wire gauze but it is not as good as showing directly against the flame.
Jayasala 42