Rasam
Rasam is a traditional South Indian spicy and tangy soup. This must- have dish in all Indian homes, claims to have many health benefits, especially when recovering from an illness or even if feeling under the weather. I remember as a kid, having rasam when feeling unwell or having tummy upsets!
Ingredients
Ingredients A:
- 1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 6 – 8 garlic pips
- 2 shallots
Ingredients B:
- ½ cup tamarind (soak in warm water for at least 10mins)
- 2 medium sized ripe tomatoes (the riper, the better the taste)
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder (add more, if needed)
- Salt as needed
Ingredients C: (saute)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil or olive oil
- ¼ tsp mustard seeds
- 3 dry chillies (or more according to taste)
- ¼ tsp asafoetida powder (or a small solid piece of "Hing")
- 1-2 sprigs curry leaves
- 4 stems coriander leaves (chop coarsely)
Instructions
- Coarsely grind the ingredients (A) with a few drops of water.
- On a low flame, heat oil in a pan and when it is warm, add in the mustard seeds, dry chillies and a solid piece of asafoetida (or if using asafoetida powder, add in later with the tamarind liquid).
- When the mustard seeds crackle, add in the dried chillies, curry leaves and lastly, chopped coriander leaves. Stir for a minute or so.
- Add in the ground spices (A). Stir and cover immediately.
- After a minute, add in the chopped tomatoes, and leave to cook for 2 minutes or until it is soft and mushy. You can use the back of a ladle to mash it.
- Then add in the tamarind pulp with water. The consistency should be watery like a soup.
- Add in the turmeric and salt.
- Allow it to simmer but NOT BOIL.
- Taste. If too sour add in more water but if not sour enough, add in more tamarind pulp.
- Garnish with coriander leaves and switch off.
Notes
Note: Rasam is a spicy and tangy dish. You can add more or less black peppercorns and dry chillies to suit your palette. Alernatively, you can increase the the number of tomatoes and reduce the amount of tamarind pulp for a more tomato soup kind of drink.