Rasam (Tamarind and Tomato Soup)
Rasam, also called saru, is a popular dish in South India. It can be described as a thin soup, served on top of rice.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 13 min
- Total
- 1 hr 43 min
- Servings
- As written in source
- Difficulty
- Advanced
Timings are approximate — worked out from the method, not measured in a test kitchen.
Ingredients
Quantities are retained as written by the source and do not scale automatically. Tap an ingredient to check it off as you go.
Cooking instructions
Procedure
Fry the all the ingredients together, adding asafoetida last, in a skillet with oil or ghee. Toast until the spices start to brown slightly.
Procedure
Grind everything to a powder. Note that coriander seed is very difficult to powder.
Procedure
Wash the toovar dhal thoroughly until the water runs clear.
Procedure
Cover with double the quantity of water, turmeric powder and teaspoon of oil. Cook in a microwave for half an hour, a pressure cooker, or slowly on a stove, covered. The dhal should develop a mushy consistency.
Procedure
Cut the tomatoes into 4 pieces, put them in a saucepan full of water, and bring to the boil.
Procedure
Add tamarind, salt and teaspoon of sugar. The tamarind is usually very bitter, so add only a little at a time. Tamarind can be added later to adjust the flavour.
Procedure
When the tomatoes are half cooked add the cooked dal.
Procedure
Add enough rasam powder to give the desired taste, usually 4–5 teaspoons. It should be reasonably spicy, and neither the tamarind or sugar should dominate. Stir and keep simmering.
Procedure
In a small pan, heat the ghee for the mustard seed seasoning and add the mustard seeds, urad dhal, chillies and curry leaves. The dhal should start to go brown and the mustard seeds will start spitting. Don't burn any of the spices—it's easy to do. Once cooked, pour the seasoning into the rest of the rasam straight away and stir it through.
Procedure
Add chopped coriander leaves. Serve with hot and soft plain boiled rice.
Photo: Rameshng · CC BY-SA 3.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0 · Photo source and licence
Wikibooks contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · Adapted; quantities retained as written. · Original source
Read it through first
Skim all 10 steps before you start — it is the difference between cooking and firefighting.
Scale it
Use the quantities listed in the original recipe. Adjust them manually if making a different batch size.
Storage
Cool completely, then keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Reheating
Reheat gently with a splash of water in a covered pan, rather than blasting it, so nothing dries out.
Nutrition information is not available for this recipe yet.
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