Ingredients
Tempering
Method
- Simmer the tamarind water, tomatoes, turmeric, salt and rasam powder for 10 minutes.
- Add the dal and water and heat until it just starts to froth. Do not let rasam boil hard, or it turns bitter.
- For the tempering, heat ghee, add mustard and cumin seeds, then the chilli, asafoetida, curry leaves and garlic. Pour over the rasam.
- Add coriander and serve hot with rice, or drink it from a cup.
The spices that matter
Key to rasam, pepper chicken, Chettinad dishes and garam masala. Before chillies reached India, pepper was the main source of heat.
No black pepper? White pepper or a little chilli powder.
The most common first spice in a tadka: crackle the seeds in hot oil or ghee before adding onions, dal or vegetables. Roasted and ground, it goes int…
No cumin? Caraway or shahi jeera are the closest whole-seed swaps. For ground cumin, use a little extra ground coriander with a pinch of chilli.
Gives sambar, rasam, pulihora and sweet chutney their sour taste.
No tamarind? Lime juice with a little brown sugar, or kokum.
Black or brown mustard seeds start most South Indian, Gujarati and Maharashtrian tempering: they pop in hot oil before curry leaves and dals go in. G…
No mustard seed? Cumin seeds give a different but workable tempering. Yellow mustard seeds are milder.
Fried in hot oil with mustard seeds for sambar, rasam, poha, upma, chutneys and Kerala and Tamil dishes.
No curry leaves? No real substitute. Lime zest gives a hint of the citrus note.
A pinch in hot oil is the base of dal tadka, sambar, kadhi and many Jain and Brahmin dishes that use no onion or garlic.
No asafoetida? A little garlic and onion powder together give a similar savoury effect.
Nice to have
The blend to use
Rasam powder: A pepper- and cumin-forward blend for the thin, tangy South Indian soup.
Salt, oil or ghee, onions, ginger, garlic and fresh herbs are assumed. See how to make a tadka for the order to add whole spices.
Dishes with similar spices
Frequently asked questions
How long does rasam take to make?
About 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
What spices are in rasam?
The essentials are black pepper, cumin, tamarind, mustard seed, curry leaves, asafoetida. Nice to have: dried red chillies.
Tips from travellers
Use Rasam differently at home? Share your tip. The first good one goes right here.