Instant Pot Tomato Rasam with Frozen Lentils | Thakkali Rasam
A quick and easy no-tamarind rasam / thin lentil soup or broth with the goodness of tomatoes made in Instant Pot! Check out my tomato rasam with a detailed video!
Crush the cumin seeds, pepper, garlic, and curry leaves in a hand mortar and pestle. Make sure you crush the garlic and pepper coarsely. It's ok to leave cumin, and curry leaves whole. You can also pulse them in a mixer jar.
Dump the ingredient into the Instant Pot and cook:
Add 4 cups of water, tomatoes, cilantro, the crushed cumin-pepper-garlic and curry leaves, turmeric powder, rasam powder, salt, and the frozen masoor dal. Mix it well.
Close the Instant Pot. Make sure the vent is in the sealing position. Select manual/pressure cook and set the time to 2-minutes at high-pressure mode. When the cooking is complete, naturally release the pressure. Carefully open the lid after releasing the pressure and mix the rasam. Mash the tomatoes thoroughly; you can also use a hand blender to mash it. Or if you like chunky tomatoes, leave them as is. Serve hot.
Tempering:
Tempering is optional. In the video, I did mention that I will temper before taking pictures. But I ended up clicking without tempering as I wanted to keep it vegan. If you wanted to temper, heat a tempering pan and add the ghee. When it is hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and hing. When the cumin seeds sizzle, turn off the heat and add it to the rasam.
Video
Notes
I have tried this rasam with 3 cups measure and 4 cups measure. If you are using the 3 cups of water, adjust the salt, and the rasam will be slightly thick. For a broth-like consistency and a non-spicy version, go with 4 cups. While serving, make sure to mix well.
Adjust the salt and spices as per your taste.
Tempering is optional. You can skip tempering and serve it with a dollop of butter or skip the butter for a vegan version.
This rasam is not spicy, making it perfect for toddlers and kids.
Instead of tomatoes, you can add frozen tomato puree as well.
You can pulse the cumin, pepper, garlic, and curry leaves in a mixer jar. You can roast and crush as well. But give this a try without roasting; it is fantastic.