🍲 Rasam
Rasam is a thin, tangy South Indian soup made from tamarind and tomato, sharpened with black pepper, cumin and garlic and finished with a tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves. It is light, sour and peppery, with a warming kick. Rasam is poured over rice or sipped from a cup as part of a South Indian meal.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 30 g tamarind, soaked in 250 ml warm water
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1 tsp black pepper, coarsely ground
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 10 curry leaves
- 1 tsp salt
- 600 ml water
Method
- Squeeze the tamarind and strain the liquid.
- Lightly crush the pepper, cumin and garlic together.
- Simmer the tamarind water, tomatoes, crushed spices, salt and water for 10–15 minutes until frothy.
- Heat the oil, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves and let them splutter.
- Pour the tempering into the rasam and serve hot.
How to make it lighter
- Sip a cup of rasam before the main course to start the meal with a warm, light soup.
- Keep the tempering to 1 tbsp oil for the whole pot — 1 tbsp oil ≈ 120 kcal.
- Eat it as a soup rather than over large portions of rice.
History
Rasam is a staple of Tamil, Karnataka, Andhra and Kerala home cooking, where it is served as a course of the traditional meal. Many families make it daily, with versions based on pepper, lemon, tomato or garlic.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →