Rasam

Rasam

Origin
Alternative name(s)	Saaru (Karnataka), Chaaru (Andhra Pradesh)
Place of origin	India
Region or state	South India
Details
Serving temperature	Along with parboiled rice
Main ingredient(s)	Lentils, tomatoes, water, tamarind pulp

Rasam (Tamil: ரசம், Rasam, Malayalam: രസം), Kannada:ಸಾರು (Saaru), is a South Indian soup,^[1] traditionally prepared using tamarind juice as a base, with the addition of tomato, and chili pepper, pepper, cumin and other spices as seasonings. Steamed lentils are added along with any preferred vegetables.^[2] Nowadays all the seasonings required are combined and ground beforehand into a rasam powder, which is available commercially.

It is eaten with rice or separately as soup. In a traditional meal, it is preceded by a sambar rice course and is followed by curd rice. Rasam has a distinct taste in comparison to the sambar due to its own seasoning ingredients and is usually fluid in consistency.

History

In Sanskrit language, 'Rasa' means Juice^[3]. It can refer to any juice but in Tamil simply rasam commonly referred to the one prepared with Tamarind/Tomato juice with added spices. Saaru (ಸಾರು) in Kannada language or Chaaru (చారు), in Telugu language, means "essence," and, by extension, "juice" or "soup".^[4] Historically, it was prepared mainly with black pepper and tamarind, both ingredients native to and abundant in South India in general. It is also referred to as SatruAmudhu (Tamil: சாற்றமுது) by Iyengars.

Sourashtras, an immigrant community living in Madurai from the 16th century, still refer to it as Pulichaar (Puli or Pulipu means tart (tamarind). Rasam is the basis of the Anglo-Indian Mulligatawny soup.This is only corrupted version of a Tamil word 'Milagu-t-tannir' (மிளகுத் தண்ணீர்) meaning pepper water (In Tamil milagu means black pepper and tannir means water). It is said that Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose once commented that if he had command over the country, he would have declared Rasam a national drink^{[citation needed]}.

Types

There are different kinds of rasam, varying by ingredient:

• Tomato rasam,^[5] Lemon Rasam, Meriyala/Milagu (Pepper) rasam, Neem flower rasam, Ginger rasam, Garlic Rasam, Pineapple Rasam,^[6] Parupu (Dal) rasam, Porichcha rasam (பொறிச்ச ரசம்),Drumstick Rasam, etc.,

Regional varieties

Saaru in Karnataka

Saaru (ಸಾರು) in Karnataka is different from rasam in Tamil Nadu, and chaaru in Andhra Pradesh^{[citation needed]}. It has more protein, a thicker consistency, and more varied ingredients^{[citation needed]}. Typically, lentils are set to boil along with a teaspoon of oil. Lentils are cooked with a curry powder known in Karnataka as Saarina Pudi (saaru powder), along with salt, jaggery, either lemon juice or tamarind pulp, curry leaves, oil popped mustard seeds and a pinch of asafoetida powder. The curry leaves are added towards the end. Most of the times, chopped coriander leaves and grated coconut are also added.

Kattu saaru, part of Udupi cuisine, does not use saaru powder or tomato. Instead, thogari bele (lentil), ginger, lime juice, ingu (asafoetida), curry leaves and coriander leaves are used. Kattu saaru is seasoned with mustard seeds and red chilli (Byadgi variety). Tili saaru, also of Udupi cuisine, is made by sieving water from plain rice cooked in an open pot. This water, which has a thick consistency, is known as tili and is sautéed with mustard, salt, asfoetida and chilli preferably in ghee (clarified butter). The Tili saaru is generally eaten with cooked plain or parboiled rice.

See also

Food portal

• Hot and sour soup

References

External links

• Rasam recipe

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Rasam

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