That was before I devised this recipe. I stripped down all rasam recipes and came up with this uber simple recipe that really cannot go wrong. (TH actually makes better rasam but he has to add tomatoes to it). And Dal? What dal? I never add dal to rasam unless I am making this version which I call parippu rasam.
So in a nutshell, this rasam recipe goes against most Brahmin rules of making rasam:
– no toor dal / tuvaram paruppu (gasp)
– addition of garlic / poondu (double gasp)
– use of readymade rasam powder
Maybe I should rename the recipe mulagutawney like those fancy restaurants. Anyway.. If you don’t want to add dal to your rasam, make it without dal. Go ahead, dare yourself 😉
Garlic Rasam / Poondu Rasam Recipe
Preparation time: 20 mins
Serves: 2What I Used:
A small lime-sized ball tamarind
8 pods garlic, chopped (use as much or as little as you want)
1 ripe tomato
1 tbsp rasam powder (mine has chilly powder so if yours doesn’t, add chilly powder to taste)
A generoud pinch of hing / asafoetida
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp jaggery or sugar
Salt to tasteFor tempering:
2 tsp ghee / clarified butter (or oil)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
A few curry leavesHow to make Garlic Rasam:
1. Soak the tamarind in 1 cup warm water for 10 mins. Extract juice and discard pulp. Add another cup of water to the tamarind juice.
2. Chop the tomato and mash it well with your finger tips.
3. Place the tamarind juice, tomatoes, turmeric powder, salt, hing, rasam powder and the garlic pods in a pan and bring to boil. Once it boils, lower fire and let it simmmer, keeping the pan open.
4. Once the mixture has simmered for about 15 mins, add sugar and adjust salt. Remove from fire.
5. Heat the ghee and add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Once the seeds start to pop, add to the boiled tamarind mixture. Mix well.
Serve piping hot with steamed white rice and paruppu usili or drink straight from a glass.
Nandini – I'm from an interior TN brahmin family (Tiruchi). We do make poondu rasam (and sometimes fry garlic in ghee), but it's definitely not something that the more orthodox members of my family would eat. It's also not something that we'd make on religious occasions, or serve to guests.
Thanks for sharing anon (although next time I wish you'd also share your name!). The family I married into is similar. The paattis and thathas don't take garlic or onion in their food but my in laws don't mind for the large part.
the glass container is so cute. love it… and the rasam looks so good. i add 2 tsp of cooked thur dhal to rasam.
this is the kind of rasam that has worked for me as well. I add less garlic and have to have cilantro leaves!!
It's a good-looking rasam 🙂 I add dal when I think it's too light and when I want a thicker version. Otherwise prefer this kind.
Looks great! I add a pinch or two of pepper and jeera powder for added flavor. It helps when I have a sore throat or cold :-).
For my garlic rasam I add cumin/pepper powder instead of the usual rasam powder. Have you tried mixing this hot rasam with hot oatmeal (of course plain oatmeal cooked in hot water and salt). It tastes divine. Healthier than the usual rasam sadam.
Lovely rasam! I love to drink this rather than mix with rice esp after a heavy sadya/meal!
anon – glad the poondu rasam recipe helped.. in some small way 🙂
Hmm…actually garlic is very interior TN Brahmin thingy, so I've heard. When I got married to A, he kept talking of Poondu rasam. I don't care much for rasam except for pepper and lemon rasam. But I love garlic and never ever tasted this rasam before I got married. After hearing so much, I checked wiht my mom about his obsession. Surprising coz his family is quite traditional about Brahminism jazz. Turns out that interior TN Brahmins use a lot of garlic. They fry garlic in ghee and eat it 😛 something I love too. Now 😉