Why this recipe works
Rasam is a digestive in a bowl. Its backbone is tamarind for sourness, black pepper and cumin for warmth, and garlic, all spices with real carminative, appetite-whetting reputations. It is deliberately thin and barely cooked: the aromatics go in near the end so their volatile oils are not driven off, which is also why you never boil rasam hard.
Ingredients
- Tamarind pulp2 tbsp
- Tomato2
- Black pepper + cumin1 tsp each
- Garlic cloves, crushed4
- Rasam powder, turmeric1 tbsp + 1/2 tsp
- Mustard + curry leaves, coriandertadka
- Ghee or oil, salt1 tsp
Method
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1
Simmer the tamarind pulp, chopped tomato, turmeric and rasam powder in plenty of water.
-
2
Coarsely crush the pepper, cumin and garlic, and add.
Why crush fresh: freshly crushed pepper and cumin release their aromatic oils just before serving, which is where rasam gets its lift and its digestive punch.
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3
Warm through until frothy, but do not let it boil hard.
Why not boil: a hard boil drives off the volatile aromas and dulls the fresh pepper, so rasam is brought just to a froth and taken off.
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4
Finish with a ghee tadka of mustard and curry leaves, and fresh coriander.
An honest word
Rasam is about as light and friendly as food gets: a thin, low-calorie broth of tamarind, tomato and spice, traditionally taken to settle the stomach or ease a cold. There is very little to caveat beyond the salt, which can creep up. Sip it as a starter, pour it over rice, or drink it when you are under the weather, it earns its long-standing reputation.