Andhra Rasam

Name: Andhra Rasam
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Indian, Andhra Pradesh
Ingredients: 15 g Tamarind; 1 cup Hot water, for the tamarind; 3 Ripe tomatoes, chopped; 2 Green chillies, slit; ¼ tsp Turmeric; 1 ½ tsp Rasam powder; 1 tsp Jaggery, grated; 1 ¼ tsp Salt; 3 cups Water; 2 sprigs Curry leaves; 3 tbsp Coriander leaves, chopped; 1 tbsp Oil; ½ tsp Mustard seeds; ½ tsp Cumin seeds; 2 Dried red chillies, broken; 4 cloves Garlic, crushed in their skins; 1 pinch Asafoetida (hing)

The everyday Andhra tomato charu: thin, tangy and peppery with tamarind, crushed garlic and rasam powder, poured over hot rice with a spoon of ghee or sipped from a tumbler.

Prep 10 min · Cook 20 min · Total 30 min · Serves 4

Ingredients

Rasam

15 g Tamarind
1 cup Hot water, for the tamarind
3 Ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 Green chillies, slit
¼ tsp Turmeric
1 ½ tsp Rasam powder
1 tsp Jaggery, grated
1 ¼ tsp Salt
3 cups Water
2 sprigs Curry leaves
3 tbsp Coriander leaves, chopped

Tadka

1 tbsp Oil
½ tsp Mustard seeds
½ tsp Cumin seeds
2 Dried red chillies, broken
4 cloves Garlic, crushed in their skins
1 pinch Asafoetida (hing)

Method

Soak the tamarind. Soak the tamarind in the hot water for 10 minutes, then squeeze it well and strain the juice, throwing away the fibre and seeds.
Cook the tomatoes. Put the tomatoes, green chillies, turmeric, salt, 1 sprig of curry leaves and 1 cup of the water in a pan. Simmer until the tomatoes collapse, then mash them well with a ladle or your hand.
Simmer. Pour in the tamarind water, the rest of the water, the rasam powder and jaggery. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes, until the raw tamarind smell has gone.
Temper. Heat the oil in a small pan. Add the mustard seeds and let them pop, then the cumin, red chillies, crushed garlic and the second sprig of curry leaves. Fry until the garlic smells toasty, add the hing and tip the lot into the rasam.
Finish. Add the coriander and let the rasam just rise and froth once, then turn off the heat. Don't keep boiling it or it turns bitter. Cover for 5 minutes before serving with rice.

Tips

Rasam should be thin and clear, not thick like sambar. Taste after the tamarind goes in: it should be sour first, then hot, with only a hint of sweetness from the jaggery. For the pepper version on this site, see Miryala Rasam.