Garlic Rasam

My spicy and aromatic garlic rasam gets its mouthwatering flavor from lots of garlic, ginger, tamarind, tomatoes and homemade rasam powder. It is a delicious, warming, soothing soup you can eat on its own or with a bowl of rice.

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• What is garlic rasam?
• Why you will love this recipe
• How to make garlic rasam
• More south Indian recipes to try
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What is garlic rasam?

Garlic rasam is a tangy, spicy south Indian soup or dal made by simmering the watery portion of cooked dal - its stock - with garlic, tomatoes, tamarind, and a spice blend called rasam powder. In Tamil Nadu, where garlic is called "poondu," it goes by the name of poondu rasam.

In my Tamil in-laws' homes, rasam is almost always made in conjunction with sambar. After toor dal or split pigeon peas are cooked, the cooking water, with lots of flavor from the lentils, rises to the top while the tender lentils settle at the bottom. The stock is skimmed off and used to make rasam and the lentils are added to sambar.

Rasam is believed to be the precursor to mulligatawny soup, adapted by south Indian cooks for the milder British palate during colonial times. But a traditional rasam is simpler yet more complex in flavor. It can be spicy but it doesn't have to be: that is entirely up to you. And there are endless ways you can make it, from a plain rasam with just rasam powder, tamarind and tomatoes, to more specialized versions that use garlic, ginger, black pepper, raw mangoes and neem flowers, among other variations.

We love them all but during the cooler months, garlic rasam is especially in demand in my home. When Desi is coming down with a cold, I know -- even before the first achoo! rings around the house -- that a request for garlic rasam is on the way. I like adding a bit of ginger and lime or lemon to my recipe to give it an added flavor and nutrient boost. That way, I also know it will go down a sore throat like a warm hug.

Why you will love this recipe

Simple recipe

Rasam is one of the simpler south Indian dal recipes to make. It is almost always spiced with rasam powder so you don't have to roast or blend any masala pastes. After the tadka toss the ingredients into a pot in a particular order and then boil it all to death. One of my memories from my mother-in-law's kitchen is rasam bubbling voraciously in an eeya chombu, a special tin pot every Tamilian traditionally used to make rasam.

Madly flavorful

The word "flavorful" gets thrown around so easily to describe food, but one taste of this garlic rasam and you'll be in heaven. It has so much complexity from the tangy tamarind, lime and tomatoes to the spicy ginger, garlic and rasam powder.

Versatile

Traditionally, rasam is served with rice as a second course, after a first course of sambar and rice. Those who aren't hungry still opt to drink the rasam by itself because it is believed to be great for digestion. You can do either of these, or just eat the rasam drizzled over a bowl of rice for dinner. Better still, when it's cold outside, serve it in a soup bowl and slurp it up!

How to make garlic rasam

Reserve stock from cooked lentils

When you cook lentils for sambar or any dal, pour out some of the liquid that has accumulated at the top of the cooked lentils - a cup is enough. You can also reserve a tablespoon or two of the cooked lentils. Store this lentil stock in the refrigerator for up to five days, or freeze for up to three months. Thaw it before use. You can use the reserved lentils in tasty south Indian dals like ash gourd sambar or in a simple Indian dal.

(Many rasam recipes online use only water instead of lentil stock - read more about that in the FAQs below.)

Crush garlic and cumin seeds

Roughly crush two cloves of garlic, a green chili pepper like jalapeno or serrano pepper, and cumin seeds with a mortar and pestle. This doesn't need to be a fine paste. Adding a couple of crushed garlic cloves to the rasam adds even more delicious, garlicky flavor.

Make the tempering or tadka

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat and add mustard seeds. As soon as you hear them pop, stir in the crushed garlic, cumin and green chili paste, six more cloves of garlic, asafetida, ginger and curry leaves. Sauté for 30 seconds. The garlic should begin to just slightly color and should be very aromatic.

Add tomatoes

Add roughly chopped tomatoes to the pan. Don't cut these in a very fine dice because you don't want them to just melt into the rasam - they should add some texture to the finished dish. Saute the tomatoes for a couple of minutes.

Add tamarind paste, turmeric and rasam powder

Add a cup of water to the pan along with the tamarind paste and turmeric. Let the liquid come to a boil and continue to simmer it for about five minutes. The tamarind and turmeric will cook during this time and their flavors will meld into the rest of the rasam. Add the rasam powder and mix.

Add lentil stock and finish

Add the lentil stock you reserved earlier, and another cup of water. The rasam might appear watery but that is exactly how you want it. Let the rasam come to a rolling boil and let it continue to cook for five more minutes at a medium temperature. This gives the ingredients time to blend their flavors together. Some of the water will also evaporate, which is fine. You can always add more water if you like the rasam thinner.

Add lemon juice and salt to taste. I like adding salt after the rasam has cooked to avoid oversalting before some of the liquid evaporates. Turn off the heat and garnish the rasam with cilantro before serving.

More south Indian recipes to try

• Green tomato dal (thakkali masiyal)
• Avial
• Tomato dal
• Vegan curd rice
• Green beans paruppu usili

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