Tomato is rasam is a deliciously tangy soup made with tomatoes, tamarind, cilantro, rasam powder, garlic, and ginger! This South Indian Style soup is a true comfort food when eaten with rice. Or just drink it as is on a cold day.
What is Rasam?
Rasam is a soup, normally made out of juicy fruits and vegetables, with tamarind and rasam powder as its base. This south Indian style soup is delicious, comforting, and filled with warm spices.
You can make this soup using lemon, orange, tomatoes, beetroot, pineapple, cranberries, basil, mint, cilantro, etc. You can use anything on your hand to make the rasam. This dish is so versatile and easy to make.
I love to pair my rasam with piping hot rice and simple potato roast with papadums.
What is Tomato Rasam?
Tomato rasam is a spicy, tangy, and very flavorful rasam. This recipe honestly is my go-to on my sick days. A hearty bowl of this soup with lots of black pepper, ginger, and herbs is my favorite.
The tomatoes are pureed and then cooked in sesame oil, whole spices, aromatics, and tamarind, with a special spice blend. Once the tomatoes are cooked well, just a spoonful of cooked lentils are added along with water. Finish it off with lots of cilantro and black pepper.
Is this Recipe Vegan?
Yes, this recipe is 100 percent vegan. You can also make this recipe gluten-free by skipping asafetida or adding gluten-free asafetida.
Tips to Make This Recipe
- Adding pureed tomatoes help you extract the maximum flavor from the fruit. So lightly pulse them in a mixer grinder or a food processor.
- If you live somewhere, where tomatoes are not easily available, you can use a 14 oz can of fire-roasted tomatoes for this recipe. I love how they give a beautiful tangy and smoky flavor to the rasam.
- You can use store-bought rasam powder, or use the rasam powder recipe that is in the recipe card below.
- I always use store-bought tamarind paste, but you can also soak 1 inch of the dried tamarind in hot water. Squeeze and extract all the flavor from the tamarind and add the extracted tamarind water to the rasam.
- Don't let the rasam boil too much. It has a lot of sour flavors, so they might start to get bitter or react with the pot you are cooking the rasam in.
Is Rasam Healthy?
Yes, it absolutely is. It is made with whole and ground spices along with aromatics, that help with keeping your body warm and help fight cold and cough. It also serves as a detox drink too.
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Tomato Rasam
These nutrional values are automatically generated. Use them for estimation only.
Ingredients
Rasam Powder
- ¼ Cup Coriander Seeds
- 1 Tbsp Cumin Seeds `
- 2 Tbsp Chana Dal
- 4 Dried Bydagi Red Chilies
- ¼ Cup Dried Coconut Powder
Tomato Rasam
- 1.5 Tbsp Sesame Oil
- 1 Tsp Mustard Seeds
- 7-8 Curry Leaves
- 3-4 Dried Red Chilies
- ⅛ Tsp Asafetida Hing
- 2 Thai Green Chilies
- 2 Cups Pureed Tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
- 1 Tsp Tamarind Paste
- 1 Cup Water
- 2 Tsp Rasam Powder
- ½ Tsp Kashmiri Chili Powder
- ¼ Tsp Turmeric
- 1 Tsp Black Pepper
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 2 Tbsp Lentils Cooked (skip if you don't have boiled lentils)
- 4 Cups Hot Water
- 2 Tbsp Cilatro Finely Chopped
Instructions
Rasam Powder
- In a small frying pan, add coriander seeds, cumin seeds, chana dal and dried bydagi red chilis. Roasted them until nutty aroma comes, and are well roasted.
- Next add in the dried coconut powder, roast it until turns golden. Take it off the stove.
- Once cooled completey, add the roasted spices to a spince grinder jar.
- Pulse until the spices are powdered.
- Store the masala in an air tight jar for a month or refrigerate it for upto 3 months.
Tomato Rasam
- Add 1 teaspoon of Tamarind paste to 1 Cup of Water. Mix well and set it aside.
- Add 3 roughly chopped roma tomatoes to a blender jar and pulse them to lightly puree them.
- Now in a heavy bottom pot, add sesame oil on medium heat.
- Let it get hot, and add mustards seeds, dried red chilies, green chilies, curry leaves and asafetida.
- Once the mustard seeds cracle, add pureed tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, turmeric, kashmiri red chili powder, black pepper and salt. Mix well.
- Next add in the tamarind water.
- Let the mix boil and let the tomatoes cook.
- Now add 2 Tbsp's lentils and add 4 Cups of Hot Water. Adding hot water will ensure to maintain the cooking temperature, so I insist you to add hot water.
- Mix and bring ot to a boil. Let the rasam boil for 10 minutes
- Add finely chopped cilantro and serve it piping hot.
Notes
- If you don't have tamarind paste, Take ½ tablespoon Tightly Packed Seedless Tamarind, and soak it in ¼ cup of water. Once the tamarind is soaked, squeeze and strain it to get the pulp. You can also substitute tamarind by adding 2 tablespoon Lemon Juice in the end.
- If you don't have boiled lentils, then you can skip them. Adding lentils helps in balancing the tanginess of the tomatoes and tamarind. So I would suggest you add jaggery powder, not to sweeten the rasam but just to balance the flavors.
- Add extra black pepper and grated ginger if you are sick. It helps with cold coughs and sore throats.
- You can skip adding Kashmiri red chili powder, but I love the fiery red color it gives to the rasam.
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