First just warm ½ cup water. soak tamarind in the warm water for 30 minutes. then squeeze the soaked tamarind to get the pulp. strain the tamarind pulp and keep aside. In a grinder, take garlic, red chilies, black pepper and cumin seeds. grind coarsely or to a semi fine texture. Heat oil in a pan or pot. splutter mustard seeds first. Then add curry leaves and the coarsely ground spices. Saute for a minute. then add turmeric powder, asafoetida and chopped coriander leaves. stir very well. Then add crushed or chopped tomatoes. stir and saute for a minute or two. Stir and simmer rasam on a low to medium flame, without a lid, till the tomatoes soften and the raw taste of tamarind goes away. takes about 12 to 15 minutes. You can adjust the consistency of rasam as per your choice, by adding more or less water. adding less water will make the pepper cumin rasam more tangy and hot and vice versa. Serve the pepper cumin rasam plain or accompanied with rice, sambar and a side vegetable south indian dish. Notes This measurement gives you 2 3/4 cups of rasam which can serve 2-3 persons.