what is RASAM? and how is it made?

Answer 1

Simple Rasam




Serves 4

Preperation Time 30 Minutes

Contents
Green Vegetables

Ingredients
250 gms tomatoes, quartered
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
4 green chillies, chopped
1 lemon-sized ball of tamarind
1 tbsp jaggery
1 tsp mustard seeds
10 curry leaves
1 red chilli, broken into two
1 tsp coriander seeds – roasted & powdered
1 tsp cuminseeds – roasted & powdered
2 tsps peppercorns – roasted & powdered
½ tbsps oil

Recipe
1.Extract the pulp of tamarind by soaking it in a cup of hot water.

2. Boil the tomatoes, chillies and garlic in 4 cups of water.

3. Add the ground spices, jaggery and tamarind pulp and simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Heat the oil.

5. Splutter the mustard seeds.

6. Add the curry leaves, red chilli, asafoetida powder and onion and fry for a minute.

7. Pour it over the tomatoes.

8. Serve hot.

Rasam
(Indian spicy dal soup)

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Pleasantly light and spicy, delicately textured, but with sass, this recipe was adapted from a newspaper recipe many years ago by Ruth Long of Great Falls, Virginia, whose roots go deep into India and who has lived all over the world. The soup is traditional to southern India and can be varied with coconut, chilis, and ginger, not to mention tamarind and even asafoetida. This is a really lovely version, though. Serve hot to 4-6 people as a first course.
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Ruth says, "I grew up in India as a child of missionaries and we love the cuisine. It is always a choice between Indian food or Chinese when we go out to eat as my mother and her family were missionaries for generations in India and my father's family lived in China for generations. I met my own husband in India where our son was the fourth generation to be born in India. Our second son was born in Afghanistan. My husband and I spent 35 years in the foreign service and this soup has been around the world with us."
3 cups water
1 cup orange dal (lentils), washed and picked free of stones
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
5 whole cumin seeds
4 good-sized ripe tomatoes, peeled and quartered (can also use 6-7 canned tomatoes)
1 and 1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 and 1/4 cumin powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup water
1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt
Extra water
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
Garnish: chopped cilantro

Bring water to boil in a saucepan, add the lentils, reduce heat, cover, and cook until tender, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a heavy pot to medium high, add the mustard and cumin seeds, and let cook until the seeds begin to pop. Reduce heat to low and cover for a minute or two. Be careful that the seeds don't burn. Toss in the quartered tomatoes, the pepper, cumin, and minced garlic and saute for a few minutes to release and concentrate flavors. Add one cup of water and salt and scrape up the pan to dissolve into the water. Let boil uncovered until the liquid is reduced by half.

Stir in the lentils, and add enough water to bring the quantity up to 6 cups. Let simmer for 10-20 minutes.

When ready to serve, whisk in the lemon juice, ladle into bowls, and sprinkle each with finely chopped cilantro leaves.


Rasam Varieties
Ordinary Rasam
Cumin & Pepper Rasam Method 1
Cumin & Pepper Rasam Method 2
Poritha Rasam
Pepper Rasam
Parupu Rasam
Lemon Rasam
Garlic Rasam
Mysore Rasam
Mint Rasam
Vepam-poo Rasam
Moor Rasam Method 1
Moor Rasam Method 2


Ordinary Rasam
Ingredients
Thuvar dhall 1/4 cup
Water 2 cups
Tamarind paste 1/4 t.spoon
Tomatoes 2-3
Rasam powder 1 t.spoon
Cilantro a small bunch washed and finely chopped
Hing a small pinch
Turmeric 1/4 t.spoon
Cumin powder 1/4 t.spoon
Pepper powder 1/4 t.spoon
Lemon juice 1/2 t.spoon
Ghee 1/2 t.spoon
Salt 1 t.spoon (or to taste)

Method
Cook thuar dhall with 2 cups of water and keep it aside.
Boil tomatoes in 1-2 cups of water, then add tamarind paste, hing,
salt, and turmeric. After tomatoes are cooked, add rasam powder,
and let this boil for five minutes. Now add thuvar dhall and
let it cook for a few more minutes.
Heat some ghee, splutter mustard, then add pepper powder and
cumin powder to this before mixing this with the rasam. Garnish
with chopped cilantro.




Cumin & Pepper Rasam Method 1
Ingredients
Thuvar dhall 2 t.spoons
Cumin seeds 1/2 + 1/4 t.spoon
Pepper 1/2 t.spoon
Red chilli 3
Tamarind paste 1/2 t.spoon
Turmeric 1/4 t.spoon
Curry leaves a few
Water 3 cups
Ghee 1/2 t.spoon
Salt 1 t.spoon (or to taste)

Method
Soak thuvar dhall, 1/2 t.spoon cumin seeds, pepper, red chilli,
and curry leaves in water for 15 minutes.
Wet grind the above mixture.
Bring 3 cups of water to a boil, and add tamarind paste, salt,
and turmeric. Let this boil for a few minutes, and then add the
ground masala. Fry 1/4 t.spoon cumin seeds, and 1 red chilli in
ghee and add this to the rasam.




Cumin & Pepper Rasam Method 2
Ingredients
Thuvar dhall 2 t.spoons
Cumin seeds 1/2 + 1/4 t.spoon
Pepper 1/2 t.spoon
Red chilli 3
Tamarind paste 1/2 t.spoon
Turmeric 1/4 t.spoon
Curry leaves a few
Water 3 cups
Ghee 1/2 t.spoon
Salt 1 t.spoon (or to taste)

Method
Dry roast thuvar dhall and pepper without oil for 1 minute.
Soak this in water along with red chilli & cumin seeds after 10 min .
Wet grind this nicely.
Boil Tamarind water, salt, turmeric, and add the above mixture, and
let it boil for a few minutes until the flavour comes out.
Fry 1/4 t.spoon cumin seeds, curry leaves and 1 red chilli in
ghee and add this to the rasam.




Poritha Rasam
Ingredients
Thuvar dhall 1/2 cup
Urad dhall 1 t.spoon
Channa dhall 1/2 t.spoon
Pepper 1/2 t.spoon
Cumin seeds 1/4 t.spoon
Red Chilli 1
Hing a small pinch
Turmeric 1/4 t.spoon
Tomatoes 2-3 washed & chopped
Curry leaves a few
Ghee 1/2 t.spoon
Salt 3/4 t.spoon

Method
Cook thuvar dhall with turmeric, with 2 cups of water.
Fry urad dhall, channa dhall, pepper and red chilli in little
oil. Wet grind the above with cumin seeds.
Mix the masala with the cooked thuvar dhall and let it boil for
sometime.
Heat some ghee, splutter mustard, then add hing, and curry leaves
and add this to the rasam.




Pepper Rasam
Ingredients
Thuvar dhall 2 t.spoons
Cumin seeds 1/2 + 1/4 t.spoon
Pepper 1/2 t.spoon
Red chilli 3
Tamarind paste 1/2 t.spoon
Turmeric 1/4 t.spoon
Curry leaves a few
Water 3 cups
Ghee 1/2 t.spoon
Cooking Oil 1 t.spoon
Salt 1 t.spoon (or to taste)

Method
Fry thuvar dhall, 1/2 t.spoon cumin seeds, pepper, red chilli,
and curry leaves in oil.
Wet grind the above mixture.
Bring 3 cups of water to a boil, and add tamarind paste, salt,
and turmeric. Let this boil for a few minutes, and then add the
ground masala. Fry 1/4 t.spoon cumin seeds, and 1 red chilli in
ghee and add this to the rasam.




Parupu Rasam
Ingredients
Thuvar dhall 1 cup + 1 t.spoon
Red chillies 2
Corriander seeds 1.5 t.spoons
Cumin seeds 1/4 t.spoon
Peppercons 1/2 t.spoon
Hing a small pinch
Mustard 1/4 t.spoon
Methi seeds a small pinch
Cloves 1
Cinnamon stick a small piece
Tamarind paste/extract/water 3/4 t.spoon
Turmeric 1/4 t.spoon
Curry leaves a few
Ghee 1 t.spoon
Oil 1.5 t.spoons
Salt 1 t.spoon

Method
Cook thuvar dhall with turmeric, with 2 cups of water.
Fry red chilles, corriander seeds, cumin seeds, 1 t.spoon thuvar
dhall, hing, a pinch of mustard, cloves, cinnamon stick, and
methi in oil. Wet grind the above mixture and keep it aside.
Bring 3 cups of water to a boil, add tamarind paste, turmeric,
and salt, and let this boil for a few minutes. Now add the
ground masala and let it boil for 5-10 minutes, till the flavour
comes out. Add the cooked thuvar dhall, and let it boil for 5-10
minutes.
Heat some ghee, splutter mustard, then add a small pinch of cumin
seeds, and curry leaves and add this to the rasam.




Lemon Rasam
Ingredients
Thuvar dhall 1/2 cup
Tomatoes 4
Ginger finely chopped
Green chillies 6 cut length wise
Hing a small pinch
Cumin powder 1/2 t.spoon
Cumin seeds 1/4 t.spoon
Pepper powder 1/2 t.spoon
Turmeric 1/4 t.spoon
Mustard 1/4 t.spoon
Red Chillies 2
Lemon 1
Ghee 1/2 t.spoon
Curry leaves a few
Cilantro a small bunch washed and finely chopped
Salt 1 t.spoon (or to taste)

Method
Cook thuvar dhall with turmeric, with 2 cups of water.
Add chopped tomatoes, green chilles, ginger, hing, and salt, to
this and let this cook for 5-10 minutes.
Heat some ghee, splutter mustard, then add cumin seeds, red
chillies, and curry leaves, and add cumin powder, and pepper
powder before mixing this to the boiling rasam. Squeeze lemon
juice and garnish with chopped cilantro.




Garlic Rasam
Ingredients
Garlic about 6-10 flakes peeled & chopped
Thuvar dhall 2 t.spoons
Corriander seeds 2 t.spoons
Cumin seeds 1/2 t.spoon
Pepper 1/2 t.spoon
Red chilli 2
Methi 1/4 t.spoon
Mustard 1/4 t.spoon
Ginger small piece
Tamarind paste 1 t.spoon
Turmeric 1/4 t.spoon
Curry leaves a few
Salt 1 t.spoon (or to taste)
Cooking Oil 2 t.spoon

Method
Fry thuvar dhall, corriander seeds, cumin seeds, pepper, red
chilli, methi, curry leaves, mustard, and 2 pods garlic in oil.
Wet grind the above mixture.
Bring 3 cups of water to a boil, add tamarind paste, turmeric,
and salt, and let this boil for a few minutes. Fry 8-10 pods of
garlic in little ghee and add this to the boiling tamarind water,
and let it cook for a few minutes. Now add the ground mixture,
and let it boil for 5-10 minutes. Heat some oil, splutter mustard,
then add curry leaves and add this to the rasam.




Mysore Rasam
Ingredients
Thuvar dhall 1/2 cup + 2 t.spoons
Corriander seeds 3 t.spoon
Pepper 1/2 t.spoon
Cumin seeds 1/2 t.spoon
Red chilli 2
Clove 2
Cinnimon stick small piece
Tamarind 1 t.spoon
Cooking Oil 2 t.spoon
Dried coconut small piece
Mustard 1/4 t.spoon
Hing a pich
Curry leaves a few
Ghee 1/2 t.spoon
Salt 1 t.spoon (or to taste)

Method
Cook thuvar dhall with 3 cups of water and keep it aside.
Fry 2 t.spoons of thuvar dhall, corriander seeds, pepper, cumin
seeds, red chilli, cloves, cinnimon stick and dried coconut in
oil. Wet grind the above mixture.
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, and add tamarind paste, turmeric
and salt to this. Let it boil for a few minutes. Now add the
ground mixture, and cooked thuvar dhall and let it cook for 5-10
minutes.
Heat some ghee, splutter mustard, then add hing, curry leaves
and add this to the rasam.




Mint Rasam
Ingredients
Thuvar dhall 1/4 cup
Mint 1 bunch
Tomatoes 2 washed and diced
Green chilles 2
Rasam powder 1 t.spoon
Tamarind paste 1/2 t.spoon
Cooking Oil 1 t.spoon
Salt 1 t.spoon (or to taste)

Method
Cook thuvar dhall with 2 cups of water and keep it aside.
Fry mint, tomatoes, and green chilles in oil. Grind the above
mixture.
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, add tamarind paste, turmeric and
salt. Add the ground mixture, and cooked thuvar dhall and let it
boil for 5-10 minutes.




Vepam-poo Rasam
Ingredients
Vepam-poo 1 t.spoon
Tamarind paste 1/2 t.spoon
Red chillies 4
Hing 1/4 t.spoon
Mustard 1/4 t.spoon
Turmeric 1/4 t.spoon
Curry leaves a few
Salt 1 t.spoon (or to taste)
Cooking Oil 1 t.spoon
Ghee 1/2 t.spoon

Method
Bring 3 cups of water to a boil, add tamarind paste, turmeric,
and salt to this.
Heat some ghee, splutter mustard, then add vepam-poo, red
chillies, hing, and curry leaves. Add this to the boiling
tamarind water.




Moor (Buttermilk) Rasam Method 1
Ingredients
Rasam powder 1 t.spoon
Buttermilk 2 cups
Turmeric less than 1/4 t.spoon
Curry leaves a few
Salt 3/4 t.spoon
Mustard 1/4 t.spoon
Cilantro a small bunch washed and finely chopped
Ghee 1/2 t.spoon

Method
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and add rasam powder, salt and
turmeric to this and let it boil for 5-10 minutes. Now turn off
the stove and add buttermilk.
Heat some ghee, splutter mustard, then add hing and curry leaves
and add this to the rasam. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

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Moor (Buttermilk) Rasam Method 2
Ingredients
Buttermilk 2-3 cups
Methi 1 t.spoon
Hing a small pinch
Red chillies 3-4
Mustard 1/4 t.spoon
Salt 3/4 t.spoon
Cooking oil 1/2 t.spoon

Method
Heat some oil, splutter mustard, then add methi, hing, red
chillies, and curry leaves, and add it to buttermilk.

Answer 2

Rasam is a south indian(from southern India) dish. It is like a soup and is served with rice. It has lots of variations to it. Usually, you get a spice powder for rasam and that is used to make it. In US you can get it at any Indian store. But you can also make the powder from scratch.
Method to make rasam using powder from store:
Pressure cook 1 cup Thoor dal (indian lentil) (pressure cook it or boil and cook it- pressure cooking is faster).
In another pot boil ~2 cups water and cook dicedTomatoes (2 medium size) until they are completely done. While the tomato is getting done, add 1 tsp rasam powder, 1/4th tsp tamarind, 1/2 tsp brown sugar and salt to taste and boil. (be careful as it boils over very fast). Add the thoor dal to it and boil for some more time.
Season(garnish) it with -- 1/2tsp urad dal (black gram lentil), 1/2tsp mustard, 1-2 curry leaves -- fry them and when the urad dal turns brown, add astafoetida and remove from flame and add to the liquid..Rasam is done. In the end cut some Cilantro leaves (corriander) and garnish the rasam. Serve with rice and a little ghee if you like.
I could let you know how to make rasam powder if you like...but it is easier with rasam powder.

Answer 3

hmm..its like a curry the indians make.. pretty much alot of spices in it...;)

Answer 4

Rasam (Telugu: Chaaru; Kannada: Saaru) is a South Indian soup. It is prepared mainly with the juices of tamarind and tomato with pepper and other spices. Lentils are added frequently and other vegetables optionally. It is eaten mixed with rice, or drunk by itself. In a formal meal, it follows the sambar course and is in turn followed by curd rice. It differs from sambar in that it usually relies on tomatoes for its sourness rather than tamarind, and it is usually much thinner. Rasam contains many spices which are considered beneficial to health.

History and origins
Chaaru, in the Telugu language, means "essence," and, by extension, "juice" or "soup." In former times, it was prepared mainly with black pepper and tamarind, both ingredients native to and abundant in Tamil Nadu and South India in general.

Iyengars, a community living in Tamil Nadu from the 7th century CE or earlier, call it Chaathamudhu (Chaaru + Amudhu, the Tamil form of Amrita, ambrosia).

Sourashtras, an immigrant community living in Madurai from the 16th century CE, still refer to it as Pulichaar (Puli = Tamarind + Chaar).

The same dish in commonly known as Saaru in Kannada and Chaaru in Telugu. With hoteliers and restaurateurs expanding their joints in South India in the mid-twentieth century, it was popularised and came to be known as Rasam.

There are different kinds of rasam depending on the ingredients:

Tomato rasam
Pineapple rasam
Pepper rasam
Jeera rasam
Kandathippili rasam
Neem leaf rasam
Lime rasam
Ginger rasam
and many more.

Rasam (Ràsām) is also a Persian name, meaning something or someone that glows. Not to be confused with Rassam (Ràssām), which is Arabic for someone who draws, like a painter.

Saaru in Karnataka
Saaru that is enjoyed as a main dish in many regions of Karnataka is different from rasam in Tamil Nadu, and chaaru in Andhra Pradesh. It has more flavour, more protein, thicker consistency, and more varied ingredients. Typically lentils are set to boil along with a teaspoon of oil. Lentils are cooked with a curry powder known in Kannada as Saarina Pudi (Saaru Powder), along with salt, sugar, lemon juice, curry leaves, fried mustard seeds and a pinch of asafoetida powder. The curry leaves are added towards the end.

Types
Milagu Saaru - known in the West the Mulligatawny soup (milagu = pepper, tanneer = water).
Kozhi Chaaru - A Chettinad speciality made with chicken broth.
Tomato Saaru - with tomato puree as main ingredient.
Tamarind Saaru - The most common version made with tamarind juice.
Hesaru Kaalu Saaru - Green gram soup.
Pappu Chaaru - Common variant made with pulses and tomato stock.
Bellary Saaru - With toor dal, coconut & tamarind juice.
Vankaaya Chaaru - Eggplant & tamarind juice.
Majjiga Chaaru - Soup made with seasoned buttermilk.
Ulava Chaaru - Horse gram soup.
Kattu saaru - Kattu refers to the water drained from the cooked dal.
Kattina saaru - a semi-sweet rasam using jaggery.
Jeerige saaru - made with jeera, cumin.
Lemon rasam - a sour soup made with lemon juice.
HuraLi saaru - another healthy rasam made with horse-gram.
Mysore Rasam - A fragrant soup made with fried grams/dals.
Bus Saaru - Deriving its name from "busodu" (Kannada), which is the act of draining water from boiled vegetables/greens/lentils.
Kundapura koli saaru - a spicy regional variant.
Kottambari jeerige Saaru - made with coriander and cumin seeds.
Kadale Saaru - Soaked black chickpeas, coconut and ginger.
Alasunde Saaru - Black eyed beans and potato, coconut and ginger.