Pressure cook Towar dal with a pinch of turmeric powder in 1 cup of water for at least 3 whistles or as much as required for the dal to become soft and mashable. Meanwhile, soak the tamarind in water for at least 15 minutes. (see ingredients list above) If the tamarind is soaked at the beginning, by the time the rest of the prep is done, it will be ready for the juice to be extracted.

Wash, Peel and Grate the Raw Mango. Set aside till required. Wash and dice the tomato into small pieces (about 1cm sq) Separate the neem flowers from the stalks. Heat one teaspoon of ghee and fry the flowers on low heat for about 1 minute or till they become crisp (but not burnt). Drain and transfer the flowers to a dry bowl, and keep aside till required. Mince the curry leaves and the coriander leaves (slice into very small pieces/strips). Extract the juice from the tamarind. I do this by squeezing the tamarind well, into the water in which it is soaked, so that the juice is extracted, and then drain the tamarind water into a clean bowl. Squeeze the leftover tamarind once more to extract any remaining juice, and then discard the pulp.

Set a pan on the stove on low heat, and pour the tamarind extract/ tamarind water into it. Add the grated mango and the tomato slices. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Add the remaining ingredients in the list above for making Neem Flower Raw Mango Rasam, viz: rasam powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, asafoetida, salt (go slow on the salt, you can always taste and add more later if required) and curry leaves

Again bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Cook till the mango is soft and cooked through (approx 5- 7 minutes from the time it began to simmer after adding all the spices.) Mash the cooked dal and add it to the rasam, with the water in which it was boiled. Stir. If the rasam is very thick and more like a sambar, add a little water (upto one cup at the maximum) Taste for salt and add a little more if required, as per your taste. Boil on medium to high heat for 3 minutes, letting it come to a rolling boil. Add the fried neem flowers and remove the pan from the stove.

Heat ghee for tempering (as in ingredients for Tempering, above) in a small pan. Add mustard seeds. Once they crackle, add cumin seeds, saute for 3-5 seconds till the cumin begins to discolour. Add the curry leaves (stand back as they tend to crackle if fresh, and ghee may spurt out of the pan) and immediately turn off the stove. Transfer the rasam to a serving bowl and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice, a simple subzi, and papadum/ appalam.