Aiyah’s favourite Kozhi Rasam with a serve of Pepper Chicken

Jun 26

To commemorate Father’s Day (a week delayed), we bring to you Aiyah’s most favourite dish from the heartlands of Chettinad – Kozhi Rasam, a thin peppery chicken bone soup, good for the heart, soul and body. If Aiyah were to be believed, a cup of kozhi rasam a day would certainly keep the doctor away.

Kozhi rasam with hot steaming rice was another Sunday lunch favourite, but it was just as appreciated for dinner with another favourite of Aiyah’s, Idiyappam (string hoppers). If it were made for lunch, he’d give rather specific instructions “rāthirikku konjam eduthu vaichidunga” (save some for dinner) to make sure there was at least a cup or two saved for his 7pm soup, and if that meant less for the darling daughters, so be it!

As I’ve written before, Sunday lunches at the Muthiah household were a heavy affair, demanding of a snooze after. However, Ayah, at some point in time decided that it did not behoove growing teenagers to have regular naps and decided to turn us into tennis champions, enrolling us for lessons at the local tennis courts. As I encourage my brats to be gainfully occupied every spare moment of their time, of which they have lots given the incessant lockdowns, I’m reminded of the epic battles that ensued between my love for a few extra moments of shut-eye and Ayah’s desire to groom a tennis pro — needless to say I won, and the techniques of lobs and volleys still remain a mystery to me except when I’m keenly watching the Grand Slams. She then turned her efforts to the finer things in life like art lessons which fared slightly better, but, my artistic skills, or lack thereof, are evidence of another battle well won. That I turned out alright after all those wars, some of which had the neighbourhood running to my rescue, or hers, must have been a relief indeed!

Reminiscences of Sunday snoozes aside, the kozhi rasam also holds other special memories. A difficult pregnancy made Ayah vow my non-vegetarianism away in return for a healthy baby – how that worked was beyond me, but it was easier to go with the flow, and so I did. So, when a healthy baby, aka the oldest brat was born, and Ayah deemed it safe for me to break the vow, the first non-vegetarian dish that she made was... You guessed it right – kozhi rasam, apparently the best nourishment for baby, the mother only being the feeding machine, of course! It was no wonder then that the oldest brat, who has the soup loving family genes and hadn’t had kozhi rasam in a while, asked for a repeat since she was so enamoured with the test batch made for Father’s Day. So, ladies and gentlemen, this recipe has been tested twice this week and it has been her lunch nearly every day in between. Her only comment — “Can you make this without the chicken?” Ayah, the staunch vegetarian, would very happily take the blame for converting a babe in the womb! Jokes apart, I am experimenting with a vegetarian version of the soup since the resident pepper soup lover reminded me that we had had a vegetarian version at a popular restaurant on our way to Chettinad. Will post an update when I hit upon the right recipe.

While traditionally kozhi rasam is made only with chicken bones, Ayah would make it with a whole chicken, bones, wings and all, remove the chicken from the soup and either make uppu kari or pepper chicken with it – two quick and easy dishes in one. Ah, what joy! The apprentice, who believes that chicken originates from supermarkets, decided to make the rasam with boneless chicken. While I am skeptical of how that turned out, I’m told it won the kitchen master’s approval, and she’s as much a connoisseur of kozhi rasam as I am - but maybe a fond mother too? Whether you choose to make it from a whole chicken like Ayah or wings like I usually do or with boneless chicken that originates from supermarkets, we hope that you enjoy your kozhi rasam and it keeps you hale and hearty.

Kozhi Rasam Recipe

Print Recipe

Notes:

1. While the original recipe calls for chicken bones, Ayah used to use a whole chicken cut up. I usually use wings or dumsticks / thighs. You can also use boneless chicken, but in my opinion, it would lack the depth of flavour.

2. If you do not have a blender or pressure cooker, you can still make this recipe, but read on for the notes below.

3. I usually use tamarind paste in my recipes, however, if you are using fresh tamarind, soak the ball of tamarind in 1/4 cup of hot water for about 15 minutes and then extract the juice.

4. You can serve the chicken with the rasam or alternatively drain the rasam and make the chicken into a pepper fry or an uppu kari.

Ingredients:

For grinding (rasam masala):

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera / jeeragam)
½ teaspoon fennel seeds (saunf / sombu)
1 teaspoon coriander powder
3 dried red chillies
½ small onion
5 pods Garlic

Rasam powder:

1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera / jeeragam)
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

For tempering:

2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 small piece of a bay leaf
1 teaspoon fennel seeds (saunf / sombu)
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
5-6 curry leaves

Other ingredients:

250 gm skinless chicken with bones, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 medium sized onion diced (½ inch cubes)
1 medium sized tomato, diced (same quantity as onions)
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon chilli Powder
½ teaspoon tamarind paste (or the extract from a small gooseberry sized ball of tamarind)
Salt to taste (2 teaspoons)
3-4 cups water
2 sprigs of coriander, broken up for garnishing

Method:

1. Coarsely powder the cumin seeds and peppercorns to make the rasam powder and set aside.

1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera / jeeragam)
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Note: The rasam powder cannot be substituted. However, it you do not have a blender or a mortar & pestle, put the pepper and cumin seeds between a sheet of newspaper and pound it a few times with a heavy object like a rolling pin.

2. Grind all the ingredients listed in under rasam masala to a fine paste without any water and set aside.

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera / jeeragam)
½ teaspoon fennel seeds (saunf / sombu)
1 teaspoon coriander powder
3 dried red chillies
½ small onion
5 pods Garlic

Note: If you do not have a blender, substitute the rasam masala with 2 tablespoons of a readymade curry powder (I use Baba's or Alagappa's fish curry powder) mixed with water to make a paste. Slice 1/2 an onion and 5 garlic pods (or use 1 teaspoon garlic paste) add it to the ingredients to be sauteed in step 4.

3. Heat up the oil in a pressure cooker and add ingredients listed for tempering in the order listed.

2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 small piece of a bay leaf
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon fennel seeds (saunf / sombu)
5-6 curry leaves

4. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. Add the tomatoes and 1 teaspoon of salt and sauté until the tomatoes become soft and the skin wrinkles. Add the turmeric powder and chilli powder and fry for a few more seconds.

1 medium sized onion diced (½ inch cubes)
1 medium sized tomato, diced (same quantity as onions)
Salt to taste (1 teaspoon)
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon chilli Powder

Sauté onions, tomatoes, turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt

5. Next add the chicken pieces and sauté for a couple of minutes. Then add 3 cups of water, half the rasam masala, the tamarind and remaining salt and bring to a boil.

250 gm skinless chicken with bones, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
½ teaspoon tamarind paste (or the extract from a small gooseberry sized ball of tamarind)
Salt to taste (1 teaspoon)
3-4 cups water

Add the chicken and sauté for a few minutes

Add water, tamarind, half the rasam paste, tamarind and salt and bring to a boil

6. Then pressure cook for 6 whistles. Open the cooker after about 10 minutes, once the steam is released.

Note: If you do not have a pressure cooker, steps 3 onwards can be done using a heavy bottomed pan. Simmer the rasam covered until the chicken in fully cooked. However, this will take at least 45 minutes to cook.

7. Optional: Drain the rasam and reserve the chicken pieces for making into a pepper fry or uppu kari.

8. Bring the rasam back to a boil and taste. Add more rasam masala, water and salt if required and simmer for a few seconds.

9. Finally add the rasam powder, simmer for a few seconds and garnish with broken coriander sprigs. Serve hot with rice or idiyappam (string hoppers) or by itself, as a soup.