Basic Rasam

Name: Basic Rasam
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Indian, Asian
Ingredients: 2 cups cooking water, lentil stock; 2 cups water; 1 cup tomato puree; 3 oz onion (diced); 2 cloves garlic (minced); 1 bunch cilantro (chopped stems, cilantro leaves reserved for serving); 4 tbsp tamarind concentrate ((1:6 tamarind pulp:hot water, strained)); 1 tsp kosher salt; 1 tsp brown sugar (jaggery); 1 tsp cumin seeds (freshly ground); 1 tbsp coriander seeds (freshly ground); 1 tsp black pepper corns (freshly ground); 3 cloves garlic (minced); 1 dry red chili (to your taste); 1 tsp brown mustard seeds; 1 tbsp urad dhal (lentils); 1 tsp fenugreek seeds; 1/2 tsp turmeric powder; 1/2 tsp asafetida powder; 6 curry leaves; 1 tbsp clarified butter (or vegetable oil)

5 steps

Prep:10minCook:20min

Rasam is an important part of the traditional South Indian menu. There are many various recipes in different regions of India. Rasam is known as Charu in Andhra Pradesh and Saaru in Karnataka. This soup is based on plain water, lentil stock, or a combination of both. Lentil stock (also mentioned as dhal water in Indian recipes) is a liquid strained after cooking lentils. It is added to give a nice flavor and make soup nutritious. To my taste, toor dhal (yellow lentils) and chana dhal (black Indian chickpeas) stocks are the best for rasam.

Updated at: Wed, 16 Aug 2023 23:54:36 GMT

Nutrition balance score

Good

Glycemic Index

Low

Glycemic Load

Moderate

Nutrition per serving

Calories128.8 kcal (6%)

Total Fat4.6 g (7%)

Carbs25 g (10%)

Sugars9.9 g (11%)

Protein3.3 g (7%)

Sodium526.2 mg (26%)

Fiber6.4 g (23%)

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Instructions

for lentil stock

Step 1

Use a slow cooker to make lentil stock. In a pot, cover 1 part of lentils with 4 parts of cold water, and add a pinch of salt. Cook lentils on low for 6-8 hours, strain, and keep cooked lentils and the stock refrigerated separately.

for soup

Step 2

Mix all ingredients for the soup base, bring to boiling, reduce the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes, no lid.

Step 3

Measure all ingredients for tarka. Pound peppercorns, cumin seeds, and garlic to crush them into a paste. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan till smoking hot and reduce the heat to medium. Add mustard seeds and red chili. Cook till mustard seeds start popping. Add lentils and cook for another 30 sec. Add fenugreek, asafetida, turmeric, and curry leaves and cook for another 10 sec, constantly stirring them in hot oil. Mix hot tarka into the soup base.

Step 4

Simmer the soup for another 10 minutes. Chop cilantro leaves for serving soup.

Step 5

Rasam is served with rice or with flatbread as a soup. There are commercial spice mixes for this soup called Rasam powder, but I encourage you to ground your own. Only fresh spices make this soup fantastic. You can add other ingredients to the Rasam base, one or two at a time — ginger, pearl onions, lentils, vegetables, etc. — to make ginger Rasam, onion Rasam, and so on. Tomatoes are the primary souring agent in this soup. If you add more tamarind, it becomes tamarind Rasam.

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