South Indian Rasam Recipe - Thin Lentil Soup

South Indian Recipe for Lentil Dal Rasam

Served with Rice or as a hot drink, this South Indian Rasam Recipe is a popular south Indian recipe.

It is called as rasam, sar, saru, charu in south indian languages but rasam is a more commonly used name. It is an important accompaniment that is served as a soup or with steamed Rice.

The main ingredient in Rasam is yellow lentil called Tuvar dal. Tuvar dal is also known as toor dal(marathi) tugari bele(kannada), arahar dal(hindi), pigeon peas, yellow lentil etc. There are different varieties made with this dal, such as lime rasam, garlic rasam, tomato rasam.

Whatever flavor you make it, it is a very tasty preparation and a very welcome drink in the hot weather. It is also good for digestion.

This recipe is made on the stove top and the dal is cooked in a pot. You may cook it in a pressure cooker if you normally use a pressure cooker. Pressure cooking will save time.

You may also wash and soak dal about 30 minutes before cooking. This soaking will cook the toor dal faster, thus saving time.

How to make Rasam

Ingredients For Rasam Powder

• Coriander seeds - 1 tea spoon
• Cumin seeds - 1 tea spoon
• Asafetida - ¼ tea spoon
• Red chillis - 2-3, according to taste
• Black pepper - 1/4 tea spoon
• Mustard seeds - ¼ tea spoon

Ingredients for Rasam:

• Toor dal - 1 small cup
• Tamarind - a lime sized ball
• Curry leaves - a sprig.
• Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp chopped.
• Salt - 1 tea spoon or to taste.
• Water - 3-4 cups.

Ingredients for seasoning:

• Oil/ghee - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1 pinch
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon.

Preparation:

• Roast all the rasam powder ingredients on low flame. Grind to fine powder.
• Soak tamarind in warm water for 15 minutes. Get pulp using 1 cup of water.

Cooking Method:

1. Cook Toor dal in 2 cups of water till it is soft.
2. In a deep pan add 1 cup water. Add ground rasam powder, tamarind pulp. Boil.
3. Mash the cooked dal. Add to the mixture.
4. Boil for 5 minutes. Add salt. Add more water if needed. Boil for 5 minutes.
5. Add chopped coriander leaves.

Prepare Seasoning

1. In a sauce pan, heat oil/ghee.
2. Add mustard and cumin seeds. When they stop crackling, add asafetida and turmeric powder, curry leaves.
3. Add to the ready rasam and cover the rasam pot.

Rasam is ready. Serve hot as a soup or with plain steamed rice.

Tips:

1. You can also go to the recipe for rasam powder. You can use 1 1/2 teaspoon of rasam powder in this rasam recipe instead of all the rasam powder ingredients specified in the begininning.
2. You will also save the time of roasting and grinding the spices. At the same time, using freshly roasted spices adds to the taste and flavor.But it is good to have the powder ready. It can also be used for some other snacks and curries such as Onion curry.

Enjoy

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