Recipe for Tomato Rasam

Name: Recipe for Tomato Rasam
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients: 3 Medium-Sized Tomatoes; 2 Garlic Cloves; 10 Black Peppercorns; 1½ tsp Cumin Seeds; 4 Cups water; ½ tsp Turmeric Powder; 1 tsp Rasam Powder; 1 tsp Tamarind Pulp (Optional); Salt; to taste; 3 tbsp Fresh Coriander stems and leaves; 1 tbsp Sesame Oil; ⅓ tsp Asafoetida; 8-10 Curry Leaves; 1 tsp Cumin Seeds; 1 Dry Red Chilli; broken

Rasam is a spicy and tangy South Indian soup-like dish. It is commonly made with sour tomatoes (called Nati/Desi Tomatoes) and served with hot steamed rice, ghee and a side dish of vegetables (Sabzi/Poriyal).

The best way to enjoy Rasam is by serving steamed rice in a bowl, drizzling melted ghee on it and then mashing the rice a bit with your hand. Then add a generous amount of rasam and mix it well. That way, you will get a homogenous mix of rice and rasam. Then take spoonfuls of this semi-gravy mix and enjoy it hot. Serving Rasam and rice in a bowl is convenient and easy to eat. You can also serve it with a side dish of any mildly spiced vegetable dish. The mildness of the sabzi gets balanced by the sourness and spiciness of the rasam and balances the dish.

Alternatively, after you cook the rasam, you can pass it through a sieve, transfer the clear soup to a bowl, and enjoy it as soup. The pepper in the rasam works wonders for the throat and feels warm and comforting.

So, let us start with the recipe:

Ingredients required to make Rasam:

3 Medium-Sized Tomatoes
2 Garlic Cloves
10 Black Peppercorns
1½ tsp Cumin Seeds
4 Cups water
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Rasam Powder
1 tsp Tamarind Pulp (Optional)
Salt; to taste
3 tbsp Fresh Coriander stems and leaves

Tempering Ingredients:

1 tbsp Sesame Oil
⅓ tsp Asafoetida
8-10 Curry Leaves
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 Dry Red Chilli; broken

Method to make Rasam:

Grind garlic, black peppercorns and cumin seeds to a fine powder.
To this, add chopped tomatoes. Grind to a paste.
Transfer this paste to a cooking pot. Boil on high heat. Add salt, turmeric powder, rasam powder, and chopped coriander leaves.
Add water. Boil on high heat for about 5 minutes. Add tamarind to make the rasam sour if the tomatoes are not sour enough. Skip it if you don’t prefer it sour.
For the tempering, heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds, curry leaves, dry red chillies, and asafoetida.
Fry this mixture for about 5-10 seconds on medium heat.
Put this tempering on the cooked rasam.
Boil the rasam for another minute. Turn off the heat and serve it hot with steamed rice and any side dish.

Recently when I made Tomato Rasam, I served it with Steamed Rice, Zucchini Chutney and Cauliflower Poriyal.

rice, zucchini chutney, rasam and cauliflower

Equipment used in the recipe:

Cutting Board: https://amzn.to/3n9IXjM
Knife Set (includes a bread knife): https://amzn.to/3Lg64Bj
Mixer:
Option 1 Bosch:https://amzn.to/3LzMbGF (Perfect for Indian cooking, with great reviews)
Option 2: Preethi:https://amzn.to/3n9XCLH ( I use this. It is perfect for Indian cooking, but priced higher than Bosch)
Cooking Pot: https://amzn.to/3pzm7mM

Ingredient sourcing in Germany:

You can get some of this recipe’s ingredients from a German Supermarket. However, Indian ingredients can be purchased from any Indian shop near you or Spicelands. They are a big store in Frankfurt, delivering all across Germany.

Here is the recipe in printable format: