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Rasam Recipe - A South Indian Dish
Introduction to South Indian Rasam Recipe
This article is about a spicy and tasty South Indian dish that is prepared without using tomatoes. The following points are covered sequentially in this article.
- The meaning of Rasam recipe
- Interesting facts about this recipe
- Cooking time
- Ingredients
- Preparation Tips
- Knowledge about rasam powder
- Rasam powder ingredients
- Preparation tips for the powder
- Additional Important Guidelines
What is Rasam Recipe
The word "Rasam" literally means juice in South Indian languages. This recipe is similar to a juice that is prepared in more dilute form.
It is called as Charu also in Andhra Pradesh/ Hyderabad.
But, I am preparing it without adding any tomatoes even though most people like tomatoes. Tomatoes are acidic. So I use them very less.
Even though there are many variations of rasam recipe, we are going to explore only the above-mentioned particular version of it in this article.
Tamarind is added to water along with other spice powders in making this recipe. That makes it very simple and tasty.
That is why this particular variety of rasam is known as the "rasam recipe without tomatoes".
It is normally served as a side dish with plain cooked rice while serving your daily meals. You may consume it regularly, both times.
It can be consumed as a drink also just like coffee or tea if you are not eating rice meals.
Interesting Facts About Rasam
- Drink a cup or glass of this rasam daily to be free from constipation and acidity problems as it minimizes the gas formation in your stomach and boosts digestion process.
- Rasam provides much relief to people suffering from cold, nausea, and fever or from any other minor symptoms of a disease.
- When a baby is to be introduced to meals for the first time, this rasam-mixed soft rice is administered to him/her as the first meal for some days till the baby gets accustomed to the digestion of normal meals.
- Rasam acts as an appetizer also and so, it is good for those who do not feel hungry.
- If you are lacking in the taste of your food, you may take this rasam drink and your taste buds will get rejuvenated with its amazingly tangy and sour tastes.
Do you like Rasam
Cooking Time
Ingredients
- one Liter water
- 20 grams tamarind, you may substitute with tamarind juice
- 2 teaspoonfuls rasam powder, you can add a bit more also
- 2 teaspoonfuls coriander powder, for extra taste
- one-fourth teaspoonful turmeric powder, for good color and taste
- half teaspoonful salt powder, be careful, if a BP patient
- a few leaves curry leaves (sweet neem), sliced pieces better
- a little quantity mustard seeds, cumin, asafoetida, for topping purpose
Step-By-Step Preparation Tips for Rasam Recipe
- Take one liter of drinking water in a container that can be used for cooking.
- Put the tamarind in the water. You may, otherwise, extract the juice of tamarind separately (by soaking the tamarind in a little quantity of water) and then, add it to the water in the cooking container. When rasam gets boiled, the essence from tamarind automatically mixes with the water and the waste of it sets down at the bottom of the container. So, you need not worry which way you add tamarind. Only take care that you are not serving from the bottom along with the waste.
- Add rasam powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt, and curry leaves (as mentioned in the ingredients table) to the water in the cooking pot.
- Light the stove and place the cooking pot on the flame to bring it to boil. Allow it to boil for some more time so that all the ingredients get well mixed. Remove the pot from the heat and keep aside.
- Now, take a small frying pan and fry the ingredients of mustard seeds, cumin, and asafoetida in a little bit of oil. Mix it in the rasam recipe of the cooking pot.
- Your rasam recipe is ready for serving now. You may add finely sliced coriander leaves also to it before serving.
Boiling & Topping
The above video starts when the recipe is about to boil and ends with the act of seasoning or topping of the recipe. This is done for showing you how much to boil it after the boiling point and, thereafter, it shows you how to top the preparation with the other topping ingredients.
Regarding the preparation of this recipe, excepting the ingredients used for topping purpose, all other ingredients as mentioned in the ingredients capsule get added to the water in the container before it is placed on the flame.
About Rasam Powder
You may like to prepare the home-made rasam powder instead of buying the packets from the market.
It is very easy to prepare the powder by grinding the ingredients of coriander seeds, black pepper seeds, red chili pepper, cumin seeds, yellow pigeon peas, and the curry leaves in your mixer-grinder.
By doing so, you might be saving much of your time that is spent on cooking as you are able to store the powder in a closed container for many days and use it daily. Further, you are enjoying the home-made taste and satisfaction also.
Ingredients for Home-Made Rasam Powder
Ingredients
- Yellow Split Pigeon Peas (50 grams)
- Dry Red Chili (20 chilis of medium size)
- Coriander Seeds (30 grams)
- Black Pepper (30 to 40 grams)
- Cumin (30 grams)
- Curry Leaves (one bunch)
Step-By-Step Preparation Tips for Home-Made Powder
- Mix all the above ingredients and dry them open, under the hot sun, for 2 days. If you can't dry them under the sun, you can fry them in a pan very lightly with minimum heat.
- Don't add any oil for frying.
- After drying, grind these ingredients in your grinder to make a slightly coarse powder. If fried on a flame, you need to cool the ingredients before grinding.
- Do not excess-grind it to make it too much smooth or soft as that is not preferable.
- Store this powder in an air-tight container and use it as and when required for preparing the rasam recipe. It can be stored even up to one month depending on your requirements and the storage capacity.
Which Rasam Recipe Do You Like Most
Additional Tips for Rasam Recipe Without Tomatoes
- When you add your own homemade powder to the rasam recipe, there is no need for adding the coriander powder separately, as you already added that ingredient while preparing the rasam powder.
- Tamarind can be added either in a raw form as shown in the ingredients image, or you may extract its juice and then add the juice of it to the water before boiling it along with the other rasam ingredients for preparing this "Rasam Recipe without Tomatoes".
- Some people prepare the rasam recipe with lemons instead of the tamarind. But remember this recipe does not recommend adding any other ingredients except the above-mentioned ones only.
- Do not boil the rasam recipe for more than three minutes after it starts boiling. Otherwise, the tamarind may get excess cooked and hinder your serves by floating on the surface of the recipe.
