Pepper rasam / Miriyala chaaru - Version 2

Ingredients:

Garlic pods - 6 to 8
Tamarind - 1 small gooseberry sized 
Pepper corns - 3/4 tbsp
Jaggery - 1 tbsp grated (Optional)
Turmeric powder - A Pinch
Coconut Oil - 1 tbap
Salt  - As required
Mustard seeds (Optional)
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tbsp
Red chili - 1 broken
Curry leaves - few 
Asafoetida - A Pinch
Tomato - 1 medium
Onion - 1 medium

Method:

1) Soak tamarind in water or microwave it with little water for 40 seconds and extract the pulp and keep it aside.
2) Crush peppercorns into a coarse powder and also press the garlic pods slightly to release the flavor.
3) Heat oil and add jeera. Add curry leaves,broken red chilli and asafoetida and fry for half a minute.
4) Now add onion. Fry until golden brown. Add crushed garlic pods and fry well.
5) Now add chopped tomato and crushed pepper powder. Fry until soft.
6) Add tamarind pulp to it and add enough water(approx 1 1/2 - 2 cups of water) to it.
7) Add grated jaggery,turmeric powder,salt to it and let it come to a boil.Taste rasam at this point and balance with sweetness and salt required for rasam.
8) Boil for some more time and switch off the flame.

Serve it hot with hot plain rice with any fry as a side dish and papad.

Note:

1) Addition of rasam powder is optional, Add it to make the rasam thick otherwise pepper rasam would be very watery.
2) Increase the quantity of pepper corns to make it more spicy and also adjust jaggery and salt according to your taste.
3) You can skip garlic pods in the recipe,but It is highly recommend to use it.