Tomato Rasam

This spicy vegetarian soup from South India is tangy and delicious

As a child, I didn’t care much for my mom’s rasam. I was a bigger fan of her sambar. I didn’t really see the point of rasam – it was too liquidy to be considered a food (according to me) and too spicy to be considered a drink.

But one of the positive effects of adulting – especially in a country far away from home – is realising how much you miss the very things you took for granted. No tomato soup in a fancy restaurant on a cold winter day ever came close to recreating the sense of warmth of a bowl of rasam. Finally, I buckled and asked my mother for the recipe.

Of course, whenever I make it, it never tastes the way it does when she makes it. Guess that’s why they say that love is the most important ingredient in any dish. But it is still waaaay better than what I have tasted in two countries.

I share her recipe here with the hope that it gives you the same sense of comfort and warmth that a bowl of rasam always gives me.

Tomato Rasam recipe
Ingredients:
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup toor dal, boiled and mashed well
1-1 1/2 tsp rasam powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp coriander leaves, chopped
5-6 curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
Pinch of asafoetida
1 red chilli
2 tsp ghee (clarified butter)
3 cups water
Salt to taste

Method:
Take a large pan. Add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder and 3 cups of water. Cook for about 10 minutes on a medium flame.

Add rasam powder and boil for another five minutes so that the spices get assimilated well.

Add the cooked toor dal and the coriander leaves. Boil for two minutes. Add salt and mix well.

In a smaller pan, heat ghee. Add mustard seeds and when they sputter, add the asafoetida, red chilli and curry leaves. Pour this mixture into the rasam.

Serve hot.