Spicy, tangy and aromatic soup…
Yesterday, after a long wait I harvested tomatoes. This year, tomato plants in my veggie garden are making me really happy as they are flowering, blooming and making tomatoes enthusiastically. There is nothing more exciting than making a dish with the homegrown veggies. When I harvested the tomatoes, I was quite clear about the first dish I would be making with it, a popular South Indian tomato soup. This particular dish has a double role, it can served as a soup or as a curry to go with rice.
I can relate this soup to Tom yum soup, they both are quite similar in being tangy, spicy and aromatic. So, this is the South Indian version of Tom Yum soup. In fact, this soup has some health benefits as well. It’s good for digestion, helps to relieve cold and a wonderful soup to sip during winter that keeps you warm.
There are many ways of making this, some recipes call for tomatoes and some don’t. My mom usually makes the one without tomato, but when serving as a soup I like to add tomatoes to it. This time, since I had the homegrown organic tomatoes, I totally made the tomato version of rasam. Yet another popular snack in South India is Rasa Vada or lentil fritters dipped in this soup. I had tried that last weekend and it turned out delicious. I’ll be soon posting the recipe for that.
Organic Tomatoes from my garden 🙂
Tomato Rasam Soup
Serves: 3 people
Ingredients
To make paste:
- Small onion, chopped- 5
- Garlic cloves, chopped-3
- Ginger, chopped- 2 inch slice
- Cumin seeds- 3/4 tsp
- Whole Pepper corns- 3/4 tsp
- Green chili- 2
- Tomato-2 small
- Oil- 1 tbsp
- Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
- Curry leaves- 1 sprig
- Water-Â Â 1 1/2 cups
- Tomato, chopped- 1 large
- Fresh Tamarind- 2 inch slice soaked in 5 tbsp warm water
- Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp ( if you need it to be spicy)
- Salt- to taste
- Cilantro, chopped- 1 handful
Instruction
- In a blender, combine the above mentioned ingredients for making paste with just enough water to make a coarsely smooth paste.
- Soak 2 inch slice fresh tamarind in 5 tbsp warm water for 5 minutes till it turns soft, combine the tamarind in water to release the juice, strain the juice and discard the skin.
- Place a saucepan over medium heat, add oil, let it turn hot.
- Add mustard seeds and let it splutter.
- Add curry leaves and saute for a second.
- Pour the ground paste into the pan, saute for a minute.
- Rinse the blender with 1 1/2 cups water and add it to the pan.
- Add salt to taste and combine well.
- Add chopped tomatoes.
- Add tamarind juice, combine well and let come to a boil.
- Simmer for about 5 minutes till the tomatoes are slightly mashed up.
- Taste and add salt if needed.
- If you need it to be more spicy add ground pepper as well.
- Garnish with cilantro and cook for a minute.
- Remove the pan from the heat and keep covered for 5 minutes.
- Serve warm in a soup bowl.
- You could even serve this as a curry dish to go with rice.
Tips:
- Adjust the amount of salt, ground pepper and tamarind juice accordingly.
- If using concentrated tamarind paste, use less.
- If you want, you could add a pinch of asafetida while cooking this soup (I didn’t add this).
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- Small onion, chopped- 5
- Garlic cloves, chopped-3
- Ginger, chopped- 2 inch slice
- Cumin seeds- ¾ tsp
- Whole Pepper corns- ¾ tsp
- Green chili- 2
- Tomato-2 small
- Oil- 1 tbsp
- Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
- Curry leaves- 1 sprig
- Water- 1½ cups
- Tomato, chopped- 1 large
- Fresh Tamarind- 2 inch slice soaked in 5 tbsp warm water
- Ground pepper- ¼ tsp ( if you need it to be spicy)
- Salt- to taste
- Cilantro, chopped- 1 handful
- In a blender, combine the above mentioned ingredients for making paste with just enough water to make a smooth paste.
- Soak 2 inch slice fresh tamarind in 5 tbsp warm water for 5 minutes, combine the tamarind in water to release the juice, strain the juice and discard the skin.
- Place a saucepan over medium heat, add oil, let it turn hot.
- Add mustard seeds and let it splutter.
- Add curry leaves and saute for a second.
- Pour the ground paste in the blender to the oil, saute for a minute.
- Rinse the blender with 1½ cups water and add it to the pan.
- Add salt to taste and combine well.
- Add chopped tomatoes.
- Add tamarind juice, combine well and let come to a boil.
- Simmer for about 5 minutes till the tomatoes are slightly mashed up.
- Taste and add salt if needed.
- If you need it to be more spicy add ground pepper as well.
- Garnish with cilantro and cook for a minute.
- Remove the pan from the heat and keep covered for 5 minutes.
- Serve warm in a soup bowl.
- You could even serve this as a curry dish to go with rice.
•If using concentrated tamarind paste, use less.
•If you want, you could add a pinch of asafetida while cooking this soup (I didn't add this).
