Rasam

For the film, see Rasam (film).
Rasam
Alternative names

Saaru
Chaaru

Chaatambde
Place of origin India
Region or state South India
Serving temperature Hot or cold
Main ingredients Lentils, tomatoes, water, tamarind pulp
Cookbook: Rasam  Media: Rasam

Rasam, chaaru, saaru or kabir is a South Indian soup,[1] traditionally prepared using tamarind juice as a base, with the addition of tomato, chili pepper, pepper, cumin and other spices as seasonings. Steamed lentils can be added along with any preferred vegetables.[2] Nowadays, all the seasonings required are combined and ground beforehand into rasam powder, which is available commercially. In addition to that, like Iced Tea and Cold Coffee, Rasam is also marketed commercially as Chilled Rasam.[3][4]

It is eaten with rice or separately as a spicy soup. In a traditional meal, it is preceded by a sambar rice course and is followed by curd rice. Rasam has a distinct taste in comparison to the sambar due to its own seasoning ingredients and is usually fluid in consistency.

History

In Tamil, rasam means "juice". It can refer to any juice, but rasam commonly refers to soup prepared with tamarind or tomato juice with added spices and garnish. Saaru in Kannada or chaaru in Telugu means "essence" and, by extension, "juice" or "soup". Rasa in Sanskrit means "taste" and "juice"

Ingredients

Rasam is prepared mainly with black pepper and tamarind or tomato, both ingredients abundant in South India.

Types

Different kinds of rasam are listed below with its main ingredients:

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, November 24, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.