The Everything Rasam

Amma never made rasam. Don't ask me why. We are south Indian, very much Tamil and we had everything a good Tamilian is supposed to relish- Sambar, poriyal, appalam, koottu, puzhi kuzhambu....you name it. Just no Rasam. And so it was shocking in seismic proportions to my husband that I did not define Rasam as the end to every meal!!! I learnt to make this "soup" (as Indian restaurants in the US tend to name it) from a variety of sources- mostly from my husband's relatives- and it has evolved quite a bit through the process.
So here it is....the Everything Rasam....
You will need:

1 small tomato
1 tsp whole pepper
1 tsp whole jeera
3 cloves garlic
5-6 curry leaves
3/4 cup chopped cilantro
marble sized ball of tamarind
1 tbs rasam powder

and to temper:
1 tsp oil, mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves and a pinch of hing.

(I use less oil trying to be healthy and all :)...a tsp would suffice though the actual recipe calls for 1 tbs of oil)


1. Soak the tamarind in 1-1/4 cup of moderately warm water.
2. Grind the jeera, pepper, garlic and curry leaves into a coarse mix. Add the tomatoes and cilantro and pulse for a wee bit. You don't want to grind it to a paste as the chunkiness will give it a unique flavor.
3. In a sauce pan, heat some of the tamarind water, add the rasam powder and just when its about to boil, add the ground mixture and the rest of the water. Let it heat up and remove from stove top once it starts to bubble.

4. In another pan heat the oil, add mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves and hing. (OK, tempering is an art...maybe I should cover it in a separate post!!!) And and pour it in to the rasam.

Its delicious with rice, poriyal and appalam.