Tomato Rasam

This recipe is for my daughter.  Every time she has the flu, has a cold or a throat ache, she will tell me, "amma, can you please make me some rasam?"

Rasam in Tamil means juice.  And as the name suggests, rasam can be made with various vegetables and even with dals. The favourite in our house both for the taste and for the ease of making is the tomato rasam.  Rasam has the ideal blend of sweet, sour, salt, bitter and umami in a concoction that is very hard for the brain to resist even when the tongue resists all other foods as tasteless when you are sick.

Rasam also has black pepper and garlic which you can add more or less of - and it helps to reduce the fever.  Garlic is a natural antibiotic and I use it a lot in my recipes.

I have used tinned tomatoes in this particular post because it can be made very quick that way. If you want to do it the traditional way, cook the tomatoes, peel the skin and blend it before you follow the rest of the steps.

Ingredients:

1 can tinned tomatoes  ( or 3 large over ripe tomatoes, boiled, skin peeled and blended into puree)

250 to 300 ml water

½ a teaspoon of turmeric powder

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

7-8 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

2 to 3 teaspoons of cumin seeds

2 to 3 teaspoons of black pepper corns

For tempering:

1 tablespoon oil

½ teaspoon black mustard seeds

½ teaspoon asafoetida powder

1 stalk curry leaf

1 dry red chilli

Salt to taste

For garnish:

A couple of sprigs of coriander leaves, finely chopped

Method:

Put the tinned tomatoes and water, along with the chilli powder and the turmeric powder in a saucepan on medium heat. Do not boil.  If you are using fresh tomato puree as explained above, just use the puree instead of the tinned tomatoes and follow the same steps.

Meanwhile, using a mortar and pestle, grind to a paste the cumin, black pepper and garlic.

Let the tomato water get hot – you should be able to see the foam gathering at the top of the water almost ready to boil.  At this stage add the cumin pepper and garlic mix.  Add salt to taste and again, make sure the water doesn’t boil.  Reduce the heat to a minimum or turn the stove off if it is about to boil. 

In a separate pan, heat oil, add the mustard seeds.  When it crackles, add the red chilli, curry leaf, and asafoetida.  Turn off the heat as soon as the curry leaf has released its flavours.  Add this to the hot tomato water.  Check for salt and add as needed.  Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rice or on its own as an appetizer before dinner.

If you are serving as an appetizer, serve it in a glass as a drink.