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June 15, 2009

Veppam Poo Rasam - Neem Flower Rasam Recipe

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I learnt this veppam poo rasam recipe from my MIL. We make this at least once in a month. Slightly bitter in taste but a very healthy & aromatic dish.  You can use dried neem flower or fresh neem flower for this rasam but you need to roast it before adding in the rasam as it helps to reduce the bitterness. Lets see how to make veppam poo rasam recipe for rice. 

Ingredients:
  • Dried Neem flower /Veppam poo – 2-3  tsp
  • Tamarind – Big gooseberry size
  • Red chilli – 3-4 nos (pinched into two)
  • Turmeric powder – a pinch
  • Jaggery / sugar – 1/4 tsp
  • Oil – 1 tbsp
  • Salt & water – as needed
To Temper:
  • Cooking oil / ghee - 2 tsp
  • Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp
  • Urad dal – 1/2 tsp
  • Toor dal  – 1/2 tsp
  • Curry leaves – a sprig
Method:
  • Dry roast neem flower in a kadai till brown and nice aroma arises .
    Cool down. Crush it with your hands and powder it. Set aside.
  • Soak tamarind in water and extract the juice from it.
  • Heat a kadai with oil and add the tempering items one by one. Add the pinched red chillies and curry leaves. Roast it for a second. 
  • Then add the tamarind juice, a pinch of turmeric powder and salt.
  • Add the jaggery/sugar. Let it boil for sometime .
  • Remove from fire. Then add the roasted and powdered neem flower. Mix it well.
Serve with hot plain rice!!

Bye , catch you all in the next post.



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39 comments :

jayasree said...

Have heard a lot about neem flower in rasam and pachadi. But never got the flowers to try. The rasam sounds very appetizing and needless to say its healthy too.

lata raja said...

Hello Chitra, lovely rasam. You know Best I like about your write up is the clinic. you must be researching high dear :) By the way I used yuor recipe to my bread toast this morning.Thanks for the variety I could use.

Parita said...

have never used neem flower before, new to me, thanks for sharing!

Kalyani said...

new recipe to me .... nice pictures ......

vidhas said...

Yummy and healthy rasam. I too love Neem flower rasam. Thanks for sharing lots of information about Neem.

Deepthi Shankar said...

never heard of neem flower in Rasam .. must try it once

lubnakarim06 said...

Oh wow healthy and delsih....

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

Neem is very healthy for you if you can get around the bitter taste... I think you have an unique recipe... Good one.

Priyameena said...

Neem flower rasam interesting..I love to taste some..

Shama Nagarajan said...

nice recipe...searching neem flowers for a long time

gtyuk said...

I never knew that we can make a rassam with the neem flowers; interesting recipe!

chef and her kitchen said...

we use neem flowers only during our New year,ie,UGADI...Rasam with this is surely a healthy one..

Unknown said...

Thanks much for sharing the info on neem...good recipe.

Ashwini said...

Healthy rasam.. My MIL said they would make this for ugadi..

Priya Suresh said...

Wat a healthy dish....i miss this, unfortunately we wont get this here..feel like having rite now!

Unknown said...

good one..something like this is made during tamil new year too..

Gita Jaishankar said...

Delicious rasam Chitra...looks very comforting..healthy too :)

Finla said...

I never knew we ould make rasom with these flowers.
I remember when mom did aurvedic medicen, she used to take bath with neem leaves boiled in hot water and other remidies.

VineelaSiva said...

I never heard the rasam with neem flowers.I just know to use in ugadhi pachadi.When i was childhood every sunday my mom used to do the neem paste .Now i cant.But i will try this.U r giving very valuable information for every food items.Thank u very much.

Pooja said...

Oh what a healthy rasam! I dont mind the bitter taste when it is such a nutritious dish!

Vikis Kitchen said...

Wow, Chitra, What a flavorful rasam. My mom used to do it for every Tamil New year.. cherish the memories a lot. I have never tried doing it before:(
Its very true , addition of bitter taste in our food will help us a lot.
Thanks for the recipe.

Myvegfare said...

You are so lucky that you get all the things!, Oh!, now you made think of this!, mmmm the smell of neem flower is indulging my senses..., when i was in india I used to make this often..., Oh! it is sooooo nice..., pictures look mouthwatering....

kittymatti said...

nice information, great pic, super recipe...

Nithya said...

Nice rasam. I am a big fan of rasams and would try this one soon.. :)

Nice blog. Here for the first time. Keep it going. :)

Raks said...

This is very healthy i know but I cant eat though :P
But once in a while its okay to include this :)

Chitra said...

thanku all buddies:)

Uma said...

never heard of this rasam! looks gorgeous and yummy Chitra!

Ganga Sreekanth said...

Chitra something waiting for you in my blog

Nithya Praveen said...

Neem is supposed to be very healthy....we mk this too.But somehow the bitter taste kinda makes it weird i feel,however its very nutritious.My mom forces me to have this often:(.Thanks for sharing!

Usha said...

Such a healthy rasam ! Never heard of using veppampoo in rasam, cool !

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

Oh you remind me of Telugu new yr thats when we make use of neem flowers tooo much!!! simple and a healthy one!!!

Valarmathi Sanjeev said...

New to me. Sounds interesting and healthy too.

Pooja said...

Interesting recipe...will it taste too bitter chitra..

Chitra said...

@Pooja , not much bitter..It depends on the ratio of tamarind, redchilly u use and how well u roast the neem flower.:)

Preeti Singh said...

Few of my bengali friends use to cook tender neem leafs....but neem flower rasam.... hearing for the first time...i am sure it is very good for health.

Vani said...

Glad you liked the huli, Chitra! Thanks for letting me know and the mention. Neem flower rasam sounds great!

Rumela said...

I like this recipe. these Veppam poo rasam are sure to taste great and are extremely nutritious as well. I am going to make it for the holidays when my kids will be at home. I'll be sure that what they are eating is healthy. thank you for shearing your post.

Padma said...

Hi Chitra.

Tried today as my mom had dried Neem flowers ...It tasted nice not having any bitter taste when had with rice with ghee on it...My 2 year kid had this with pudina thogayal

Chitra said...

Glad to know ur kid liked it. Thanks for the feedback. It made my day 😊