Tomato Rasam Muffins

TOMATO RASAM MUFFINS -- just hearing these three words together is either grossing you out this very moment or you want to keep reading because you are utterly fascinated. You can blame Trader Joes for this creation. I love Trader Joes and although I usually abstain from buying their fresh produce (too many spoilt veggies too soon), I tend to buy their freezer foods (frozen naans, desserts, organic veggies) as well as dried fruits and snacks. We recently found a really yummy veggie tortilla corn chips that the kids love as well as this dried tamarind flavored with sugar and red chili. Its sweet, hot, sour, tangy and completely yumalicious. I practically ate all of the packet in one setting. I started thinking of ways to incorporate it into a special treat. The texture was chewy and I was instantly reminded of a savory raisin. Then I wondered what I would do with savory raisins and baking popped into my head!

So, I got home, I realized the rest of the packet was destined for a savory muffin treat. But what could I combine my savory dried tamarind with in a baked dish? More contemplation brought about the idea of tomato rasam. In our family, we typically flavor our tomato rasam with tamarind, rasam powder, cilantro leaves, fresh tomatoes with toor dhal. So for this recipe I decided to use some of those flavors in the muffin. I remember reading about a pepper and goat cheese muffin over at Jugalbandi so I got over there and stared at their recipe list. With some minor and major modifications my Tomato Rasam Muffins were born. They were consumed within minutes of their birth and soon will be world famous. :)

Tomato Rasam Muffin Recipe

• Half large onion ( I chose a nice purple onion)
• 1 cup chopped sweetened & dried tamarind (i used Trader Joe brand)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk (i used 2%)
• 2 Cups All-purpose flour (you can substitute wholewheat pastry flour also)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1/2 Green Chili chopped
• 1 cup chopped fresh tomato
• ~3 oz Cream Cheese
• 1/2 Tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1/4 Tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1 Tsp of your favorite Rasam powder (I used MTR brand)
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground lemon pepper or whole pepper
• 3 tbsp Olive Oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degree F. Grease a muffin tray.

Heat a saute pan to medium and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and add cumin seeds, in a few seconds, throw in the onions, garlic, green chili and turmeric powder and saute for about 5 minutes till onions are translucent. Let it cool. If you want to speed up the process, add the milk. In a large bowl beat eggs till whipped, add rest of the oil and sauteed mixture and stir well. In another bowl combine flour, rasam powder, baking powder, salt, pepper. Add tamarind bits and tomato pieces to the dry ingredients and mix in. Pour egg mixture plus cheese into the dry ingredients and blend till combined. Pour into greased muffin trays. Bake in oven for 25 minutes. Muffins will be browning ever so slightly on the edges, poke a toothpick in the middle to test. If its clean, then its done. Cool muffins on a rack, take pictures, etc. etc. Eat warm! Also goes great as a giant crouton in soups!

Muffin with Butternut Squash Soup

Verdict? I have to say, I was nervous creating this one. I think the cream cheese tempered the spicy overtones just right and the tamarind and tomatoes gave this muffin the right tart and tangy flavors. The tamarind bits added the right texture too. Next time I will be sure to add some chopped up cilantro as it was missing. I didn't have any handy! I know what kind of Indian doesn't keep stock of cilantro around!! The rasam powder added a nice spicy touch and if you like them really spicy increase to 1.5 or 2 teaspoon!

Thanks Bee and Jai for the "technical" aspects of a savory muffin. :) You know --how much flour to egg ratio etc.. You guys should try it out as you are fans of savory stuff.

****UPDATE*** I just found out I won a contest, I won second place for the overall SPECTRA award and I was the winner for DELISH - the picture that is most drool-worthy in a click contest!!! WOW, this is so exciting. A recreational blogger, a real amateur photographer getting a photo event award is out of this world. Thank you judges and Bee & Jai for organizing this for the food blogging community. Here I can't even work blogger well to hyperlink my badges to your site. How sad is that! Thanks again!