Tamarind rasam is a South Indian soup which is made with dried tamarind pulp, curry leaves, basic tempering spices, jaggery and coriander leaves.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon ghee (or oil)
  • 3 to 3½ cups water
  • small lemon sized tamarind
  • 1 sprig curry leaves
  • ½ teaspoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon mustard
  • 1 pinch Hing (or asafoetida)
  • ⅛ teaspoon turmeric
  • 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (along with stalks chopped finely)
  • ½ to ¾ teaspoon salt ((adjust to taste))
  • 4 to 5 garlic cloves (crushed)
  • 1 to 3 tablespoons jaggery ((adjust to taste))
  • 1½ tablespoons coriander seeds
  • ½ tablespoons cumin
  • ½ teaspoon pepper corn
  • ¼ teaspoon methi (or menthulu)
  • 1 small dry chili

Method

Preparation

  1. Heat a pot and dry roast on a low to medium flame - methi seeds, coriander seeds, pepper corn and red chilli until the methi smells good.
  2. Then add cumin and fry for 30 seconds.
  3. Cool and make a fine powder in a blender or hand pestle. Set aside.
  4. Soak tamarind in ¼ cup warm water. Squeeze the juice and set aside. You can filter to remove debris. You can also add tamarind directly. If your tamarind is clean you may add the pulp as well.

How to make Tamarind Rasam

  1. Heat oil in a deep pan. Add cumin, mustard, red chili. Fry till you get a nice aroma.
  2. Add curry leaves, hing and fry till crisp. Add the powder and saute for a minute.
  3. Pour water, add tamarind, crushed garlic, turmeric, salt, jaggery.
  4. Let the tamarind rasam boil for 5 minutes on a medium flame.
  5. Add coriander leaves and switch off.
  6. Taste the tamarind rasam and add more salt or tamarind if needed.
  7. Serve tamarind rasam with rice and vegetable stir fry.

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.