Rasam ( Tamil: ரசம்) or saatramudhu ( Tamil: சாற்றமுது) is a spicy South Indian

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot – though it is sometimes served chilled – made by cooking or otherwise combining meat or vegetables with Stock (food), stock, milk, or water. According to ''The Oxford Compan ...

-like dish. It is usually served as a side dish with rice. In a traditional South Indian meal, it is part of a course that includes sambar rice. Rasam has a distinct taste in comparison to sambar due to its own seasoning ingredients and is watery in consistency. Chilled prepared versions are marketed commercially as well as rasam paste in bottles. An Anglo-Indian variety of rasam is the soup-like dish mulligatawny whose name is derived from the Tamil word ''mulagu thani''.

Origin

' in and Tamil, ' in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

( Kannada script: ), or ' (చారు) in Telugu means "essence" and, by extension, "juice" or "soup". In South Indian households ''rasam'' commonly refers to a soupy dish prepared with a sweet-sour stock made from either kokum or

tamarind Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this spe ...

, along with

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

and

lentil The lentil (''Vicia lens'' or ''Lens culinaris'') is an annual plant, annual legume grown for its Lens (geometry), lens-shaped edible seeds or ''pulses'', also called ''lentils''. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in Legume, pods, usually w ...

, added spices and garnish.

Ingredients

Rasam is prepared mainly with a tart base such as kokum, malabar tamarind ''(kudam puli)'',

, vate huli (vate huli powder), ambula or amchur (dried green mango) stock depending on the region. A dal or lentil stock (for rasam, the typical dal used is split yellow pigeon peas or mung beans) is optional but is used in several rasam recipes.

Jaggery Jaggery is a List of unrefined sweeteners, traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, North America, Central America, Brazil and Africa. It is a concentrated product of Sugarcane juice, cane jui ...

, cumin,

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diameter ...

turmeric Turmeric (), or ''Curcuma longa'' (), is a flowering plant in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. It is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that requires temperatures between and high ...

lemon The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

, mustard seeds, chilli powder, curry leaves,

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

, shallots and

coriander Coriander (), whose leaves are known as cilantro () in the U.S. and parts of Canada, and dhania in parts of South Asia and Africa, is an annual plant, annual herb (''Coriandrum sativum'') in the family Apiaceae. Most people perceive the ...

leaves may be used as flavoring ingredients and garnish in South India.

Types

Different kinds of rasam are listed below with their main ingredients. *Baellae sāru – pigeon pea lentil *Bassāru/kattu sāru – boiled vegetables/greens/lentils *Beetroot rasam *Black pepper sāru –

Black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diameter ...

(Karimenasu in

) *Elumichai rasam – lemon juice *Hesaru kālu sāru –

green gram The mung bean or green gram (''Vigna radiata'') is a plant species in the legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata Extract Green Mung Bean Extract Powder Phaseolus aureus Roxb Vigna radiata L R Wilczek. MDidea-Extracts P ...

*Huruli sāru - made from

Horsegram ''Macrotyloma uniflorum'' (horsegram, also known as horse gram, kulthi bean, gahat, hurali, or Madras gram) is a legume native to tropical southern Asia, known for its distinct taste and texture, widely used legume in many cuisines. It is also kno ...

(Kudu in Tulu) *Inji rasam – ginger *Jīraga rasam – cumin *Kandathippili rasam – greens *Kattu sāru – Togari bele and Byadgi chillies *Kaḍalai rasam – black chickpeas *Kattina sāru –

jaggery Jaggery is a List of unrefined sweeteners, traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, North America, Central America, Brazil and Africa. It is a concentrated product of Sugarcane juice, cane jui ...

*Killu Milagai saatramudhu - Dry red chilli *Koẕi rasam – chicken *Mudakathān rasam – balloon vine *Māngā rasam – raw or semi-ripe mango *Murungai pū rasam – drumstick flower *Miḷagu rasam ( mulligatawny) – black pepper *Mysore rasam – fried lentils *Nellikkāi rasam – Indian gooseberry *Panasa tona charu - jackfruit (ripe) *Puḷi rasam – kokum or

extract *Paruppu rasam / pappu sāru – pulses and tomato stock *Pūndu rasam – garlic *Tili sāru – sieving water from plain rice *Thakkāḷi rasam – tomato puree *Vēpam pū rasam – neem flower *Venkāya rasam – Eggplant

References

{{Sri Lankan cuisine Andhra cuisine Foods containing coconut Indian curries Indian soups and stews Karnataka cuisine Kerala cuisine South Indian cuisine Tamil cuisine Telangana cuisine Vegetarian dishes of India Sri Lankan soups and stews Indo-Caribbean cuisine

Origin

Ingredients

Types

See also

References