Rasam is a light South Indian traditional soup made with basic spices, ripe tomatoes, tamarind and herbs. It is very soothing to the tummy and helps in digestion. This Hotel style Rasam is served with rice but can also be enjoyed as a soup.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 3 · 3 to 4
  • Category: Side
  • Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients

  • 2 to 3 medium tomatoes (or (1 to 1½ cups) chopped or pureed)
  • ⅛ teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ to ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 2½ to 3 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon Tamarind ((optional, use as needed) or lemon juice)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoon jaggery (or sugar (or as needed))
  • ¼ cup coriander leaves (with stems chopped finely)
  • 1 ½ tablespoon oil (or ghee)
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds ((jeera))
  • 1 dried red chili ((broken) (less spicy kind))
  • 1 sprig curry leaves
  • 1 pinch hing ((asafoetida))
  • 3 to 4 cloves garlic (crushed (optional))
  • ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds ((methi seeds))
  • ¼ to ½ teaspoon pepper corn ((black pepper))
  • 1½ teaspoon cumin seeds ((jeera))
  • 1 small dried red chili (optional (use less spicy kind))

Method

  1. Add ¼ teaspoon methi seeds and 1 dried red chilli to a small pan and begin to dry roast them on a low to medium heat.
  2. When the seeds turn light golden, then add 1½ teaspoon cumin seeds & ¼ to ½ teaspoon pepper corn. Roast them briefly until the seeds begin to smell good. Turn off the heat.
  3. Cool & add this to a grinder or spice jar or mortar pestle. Grind them to a fine powder.

Tempering

  1. Heat oil or ghee in a pot. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds & red chili.
  2. When they begin to splutter, add 3 to 4 crushed garlic, 1 sprig curry leaves and a pinch of hing.
  3. Saute well for a minute till the leaves turn crisp.

How To Make Rasam

  1. Add tomatoes, salt and turmeric. Saute until the tomatoes breakdown, become mushy & soft.
  2. Then add the ground spice powder. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes. The spice powder must begin to smell good.
  3. Next pour water. Add tamarind and jaggery. Bring this to a boil.
  4. Then simmer for 5 minutes after it comes to a boil. Soon It thickens slightly.
  5. Stir well and take little rasam in a tablespoon. Cool this and taste test. Add more salt, jaggery or tamarind to adjust the taste. I make it sweet, sour & hot.
  6. Add chopped coriander leaves. Simmer for a minute. Cover and turn off the stove.
  7. Serve rasam hot with rice or as a soup.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.