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Home » Rasam » Tomato Rasam from Homemade Rasam Powder

Tomato Rasam from Homemade Rasam Powder

Published: Mar 25, 2020 Modified: Apr 13, 2020 By Sujata Shukla This blog generates income via ads. This post may contain affiliate links. PepperOnPizza may earn a commission for purchases made after clicking these links. View our disclosure policy for details

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Brass vessel filled with red brown liquid, tomatoes and coriander leaves floating on top. Red white and black napkin to the left. All on a brown wooden background https://www.PepperOnPizza.com

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Tomato Rasam, quick and easy to make, with cooked yellow lentils/ thowar dal, tamarind extract, ripe tomatoes and rasam spice powder. Refreshing at all times, mixed with rice and with a suitable vegetable side which is what South Indians do, or even as soup.

Reddish brown rasam in a brass vessel on a brown wooden background. Tomato slices seen floating on top. A red black and white napkin to the left and a book by Tamil author Perumal Murugan to the right, with a pink red cover
Simple Tomato Rasam from Homemade rasam powder

This is my go to dish - when I'm cooking in a hurry, or feeling a little low or there's a cold coming up, or I've been on a travel diet of roti sabzi dal, or when I get a foodie call from my tambrahm origins!

The rasam powder is homemade (from my Mom's recipe) and the link to the recipe is given below. Whenever I made it in my North Indian in-laws kitchen, my sister-in-law Kusum would savour several cups of the hot 'soup' !

Spiced with pepper and cumin and rich with juicy tomatoes, I prefer this delicious  rasam with hot rice and ghee and a dry sauteed poriyal/ sabzi.

Making Spicy Tomato Rasam

1. For an authentic Tamil cuisine Tomato Rasam, tamarind extract is cooked with rasam spice powder, asafoetida and tomato slices, till the raw smell disappears. A little cooked dal is then mashed and added to the tamarind extract. Adding rasam powder to dal is not the authentic Tamil way of making rasam.

2. The tomato slices can be gently squeezed before adding to the tamarind extract, to release the juices.

3. A little extra jeera / cumin powder and fresh ground black pepper, apart from the rasam powder, gives the rasam even better aroma.

4. Curry leaves have nutrient properties, as explained in this article here.  They invariably get left on the side of the plate as no one wants to chew on them. I therefore mince the curry leaves and add them both while boiling the rasam and in the ghee while tempering. Mincing helps ensure they are actually consumed and all the nutrients are taken in!

5. Quantities below are indicative, so please add more of the rasam powder for a spicier tomato rasam.

6. The Tadka / tempering of mustard seeds and cumin/jeera seeds is done with ghee rather than oil, for that special flavour.

Brass bowl with straight sides and a rim, filled with reddish brown liquid with slices of tomato and green coriander leaves floating on top. A red and white napkin to the left, on a wooden background
Homemade Rasam from Ripe Tomato and Rasam Powder

Homemade Rasam Powder:

Click here for the Recipe

 

 

 

 

Other Rasam Recipes you may like from this blog:

Pineapple Rasam

Reddish brown soup like pineapple and tomato rasam in a blue bowl with a spoon showing tempering of pineapple and tomato. All on a yellow background
Easy Festival Pineapple Rasam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neem Flower Raw Mango Rasam/ Mangai Vepampoo Rasam

Neem Flower Raw Mango Rasam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lemon Thyme Rasam

 

 

 

 

Brass vessel filled with reddish brown Tomato rasam. Pieces of tomato floating on top. A red and white napkin to the left, all of it on a brown wooden background

Spicy Tomato Rasam from Homemade Rasam Powder

Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: south indian, tamil, TamilIyer
Keyword: rasam, tomato rasam
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 2 cups
Author: Sujata Shukla
Refereshing Tamil South Indian soup like rasam, made from tamarind extract, homemade spice mix, tomato and mashed lentils. Goes well with rice and as a soup too
Print Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoon tamarind lump - /size  of a small Indian lemon
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder - haldi powder
  • ¼ cup towar dal - arahar dal/ towaram paruppu/ split pigeon pea lentils
  • ¼ cup tomato slices
  • 1 -2 tablespoons rasam powder - click ingredient rasam powder for link to recipe
  • ¼ tsp cumin powder - jeera powder
  • ¼ tsp pepper powder
  • 1 pinch asafoetida - hing
  • a few curry leaves
  • 1 tablespoon coriander leaves - minced
  • ½ teaspoon salt - or to taste
  • 2 ½ cups water - for tamarind extract, and for cooking the dal

For tempering:

  • 2 teaspoons ghee
  • ¼ teaspoon Mustard seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon Cumin seeds
  • a few curry leaves

Instructions

Preparation

  • Soak the tamarind (about the size of a large marble or a small Indian lemon) in 1 cup of water. It is best to roll it into a ball and then soak in water, so that it is easily discarded once all the juice has been extracted. It is not pleasant to bite into a sour piece of tamarind!
    Soak the tamarind for 10 minutes
  • Wash the dal and add the turmeric powder. Pressure cook till the dal is soft, in 1 cup of water. I cook it for 2 whistles and then let the cooker let out steam by itself.
  • Slice the tomato, mince the coriander leaves and curry leaves.

To Make Tomato Rasam

  • Start once the cooker is ready to be opened.
  • Extract the juice of the tamarind by squeezing it in the water in which it is soaked. Strain the tamarind extract into a bowl, checking that there are no pieces of tamarind pulp or seeds, and pour into a pan and heat on the stove.
    Add another ¼ cup of water to the tamarind pulp and squeeze out any remaining juice. Add to the pan on the stove. Discard the used tamarind pulp.
  • To the tamarind extract on the stove, add chopped tomatoes, rasam powder, cumin powder, pepper powder, asafoetida powder, a few minced curry leaves and salt.
  • Bring the rasam to a boil and then reduce the stove to low flame. Let the rasam simmer for 5 minutes on low heat so that the raw taste of the chili in the rasam powder disappears. By now the aroma would be wafting all around your kitchen!
  • Mash the cooked thowar dal in its own liquid so that the grains combine.
  • Pour the dal into the rasam along with ¼ cup of water. Bring to a boil, keeping it boiling for 2 minutes. Simmer on low flame for 3 minutes. Taste for correctness of salt.
    Add the chopped coriander and remove from the stove.
  • Keeping the stove on low flame, heat ghee in a small tempering pan, add mustard seeds and let them burst. Add cumin seeds and after 10 secs, switch off the stove, quickly adding the chopped curry leaves. I love the crackle and aroma of fresh curry leaves in hot ghee!
  • Pour the ghee tempering on the rasam and keep the pan covered.
  • Serve hot with rice and ghee, a sauteed curry and papad.

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Previous Post: « Arhar Dal Palak /Spinach Lentils Dal with Turmeric
Next Post: Raw Mango Thokku - Spicy Mango Relish »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sujata Shukla says

    May 06, 2015 at 7:53 pm

    Recipe posted!

    Reply
  2. Cherian Thomas says

    May 06, 2015 at 5:44 pm

    Recipe please

    Reply

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Hello There!

Hello from Sujata Shukla, the Author, Owner, Head Cook and Bottle washer at PepperOnPizza.com. The recipes I share with you are from fresh produce, vegetarian except for the occasional egg, usually made from scratch. Traditional Indian, specially Tamil recipes are my forte, along with a slew of Salads and Soups for a healthy lifestyle. Check out my Author Page!

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