Herbal Rasam | Herbal Soup | Rasam Recipes By Masterchefmom

Hi Supermoms,

'Rasam' or the South Indian Soup is an integral part of my everyday cooking. In fact, regular readers already know that rasam is one of my most favourite dishes to cook. They say that making a great tasting rasam is not easy and requires years of practise.  

May be that is the reason I always get tempted to simplify the steps for you to make a good rasam. There are so many different varieties of rasam that you can make and each tastes so different. 

The weather change here is leading to the spread of so many infections and rasam is the best home made medicine - soothing and healing. You an use herbs that are available in your garden like Tulsi, Omavalli/Karpooravalli/Ajwain leaves and betel leaves to increase the strength of the rasam. 

I only had mint and coriander leaves in stock and used them. The rasam tasted amazing and was so soothing to drink . I added juice of lemon and orange to get the benefits of both the citrus fruits. Also, orange juice adds light sweetness to the rasam that helps  balance the flavours. 

Do try this rasam and you will love cooking and feeding this rasam for yourself and your family.

Herbal Rasam : 

Preparation time : 5 minutes

Cooking time : 30 minutes

Serves : 4 

1 cup = 250 ml cup

Ingredients :

1/4 cup pigeon peas/toor dal/ tuvar dal ( cooked with pinch of turmeric and whisked well)

3-4 cups water 

3/4 teaspoon peppercorns

3/4  teaspoon cumin seeds/jeera

1 teaspoon coriander seeds/dhania

1/2 " ginger ( peeled)

2 small green chillies ( halved) 

1/2 cup mint leaves 

1/2 cup coriander leaves along with stalk 

2 teaspoons lemon juice ( freshly squeezed)

1/4 cup orange juice ( juice of 1 small Indian/Nagpur orange) 

salt to taste 

For tempering :

1-2 teaspoons ghee ( If you are vegan , use coconut oil)

1/4 teaspoon dry neem flowers 

1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds

pinch of asafoetida

2-3 curry leaves ( torn roughly into small pieces) 

Note : I cooked the toor dal in an earthen vessel/open pot. For 1/4 cup of dal, I used 2 cups water to cook it . Whisked it well using a wooden hand whisk. You can also cook the dal in a pressure cooker using 1 cup water . Also, I have not used any mixer/appliance to powder the spices. The rasam tastes best when hand pounded using the mortar and pestle. 

Method :

1. Add the cooked and whisked dal to a heavy bottom vessel and add 3 cups of water and start cooking over low flame .

2. Coarsely crush the peppercorns, cumin seeds and coriander seeds.

3. Add it to the diluted dal .

4. Now, coarsely crush the ginger and green chillies and add it to the rasam mixture.

5. Add salt and allow it cook over low flame for 7-8 minutes.

6. Taste and add more water if required.

7. Crush the mint and coriander leaves using the mortar and pestle and squeeze the juice into the rasam.

8. Continue cooking over low flame for another 5 minutes or till the time you see the rasam frothing on the sides of the vessel.

9. Add the lemon and orange juice and immediately switch off.

10. Heat an iron ladle with ghee and temper with ingredients given for the same.

11. Close the lid of the vessel immediately after tempering so that the flavour does not escape. 

Your delicious herbal rasam is ready to drink or to be served along with rice. Fire roasted papad/appalam tastes best with this rasam. So soothing and comforting for the throat. 

If you like this rasam , do try other rasam varieties. 

Happy Cooking !

With love,

Masterchefmom