Rasam

South Indian meals, particularly lunch, is never complete without some tangy, sour, digestives such as the moru (curd) rice and another soupy dish called rasam. Rasam means “juice”. Rasam commonly refers to soup prepared with sweet-sour stock made from either kokum or tamarind, along with tomato and lentil, added spices and garnish. The Karnataka and Andhra varieties are called saaru in Kannada and chaaru in Telugu, respectively. The spices used include chili pepper, black pepper, cumin etc.

It is eaten with rice or separately as a spicy soup and can be consumed hot or cold. Rasam has a distinct taste in comparison to the sambar due to its own seasoning ingredients. Given its usage as a regular dish in daily meals, Rasam Powder is prepared and stored in airtight containers beforehand.

Ingredients

Rasam is prepared mainly with kokum, kadampuli/kachampuli (malabar tamarind) or tamarind stock depending on the region, along with tomato stock. Lentils are optional but are used in several rasams recipes. Other ingredients used are jaggery, garlic, cumin, black pepper, chilli powder, turmeric, curry leaves, coriander as flavoring ingredients and garnish.

The below series covers pretty much the whole gamut of rasams one can savour in South Indian households.

Kottu Rasam

Ingredients :

Pure Water – 1½ padi

Tamarind – 2 palam

Roasted Red Chilli Powder – ¼ palam

Roasted Pepper Powder – ⅛ palam

Coriander Leaves – ⅛ palam

Ghee – ½ palam

Red Chilli – ⅛ palam

Mustard Seed -⅛ palam

Turmeric Powder – veesam 1/16 palam

Asafoetida – 2 ku.a

Method :

1. Dissolve tamarind in water and remove the seeds from it. Add fried red chilli powder, roasted pepper powder and salt.

2. Add one bunch of curry leaves after frying it in slow fire. Clean coriander leaves, remove the stem and add it into the rasam.

3. Refer to the seasoning method in recipe no. 22 (seasoning recipe) and use ghee, red
chillies and mustard seeds. Dissolve asafoetida in water and add it to the rasam.