Soak the ingredients given under “To Grind” in 1 cup of water for 15 mts. Drain the water after 15 minutes and grind into a coarse paste.
Chop the tomatoes and cilantro and set aside.
Steps:
Heat a pan or pot and add the oil.
When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and hing.
When the mustard seeds splutter, add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, and salt and cook for a couple of minutes.
Then add the ground paste and 1 cup of water and bring it to a rolling boil. The rasam mixture will thicken, but that’s normal.
Then add the remaining three cups of water and the chopped cilantro. At this stage, you can check for the salt. And if required, then adjust accordingly.
Now simmer this rasam mixture until it becomes frothy on top.
Turn off the heat when it becomes foamy, and you can add more cilantro and serve hot with rice or relish it as a soup.
Video
Notes
This rasam is on the spicier side. Adjust the pepper and cumin amount according to your preference, or you can add more water or jaggery too.
Jaggery is optional.
If you are serving this to nursing moms, then ignore the toor dal while grinding the masala and add a garlic pod.
Depending upon the tamarind age and quality the sourness might vary. So adjust it accordingly. And the same goes for the salt as well.
Instead of soaking the ingredients to be ground, you can dry roast and grind as well.
I kept the rasam vegan but you if you are not particular, then you can temper it with ghee/clarified butter.