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Tomato Rasam Recipe - Spicy Tomato Soup

The ultimate Tomato Rasam Recipe - Spicy Tomato Soup recipe with boiled tomatoes slow simmered in a few spices. If you have never made rasam, you should really try it. It’s so easy and the final product is so flavorful I promise you’ll be licking the bowl. You can make this in just a few minutes.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Andhra, Indian, South Indian
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 3 tomatoes, large (439 grams)
  • 5 cups water (divided)
  • 2 green chillies
  • 1/4 tsp ground turmeric        (haldi)
  • 1 and 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp red chili powder   
  • 1 tsp jaggery
  • 1/4 cup cilantro leaves
Whole spices to grind
Tempering

Equipment

  • 1 deep pot
  • 1 blender or mortar pestle
  • 1 pan

Method
 

Prep
  1. Rinse and finely chop the cilantro and onion and set aside.
  2. Rinse the tomatoes. Make 3 slits on each tomato while the tomato is still intact and set it aside.
Cook
  1. Add 3 cups water and the slit tomatoes in a pot. Further add in the green chilies to the pot. Furthermore, boil on high heat until the tomatoes softens, roughly 10 - 20 minutes depending on the type of tomato. It should be softened so that the skin is peeled easily.
  2. Meanwhile, while the tomato is boiling, using a mortar and pestle or a spice blender, add in 1 and 1/2 coriander seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp peppercorns and grind them finely. Further add in 4 garlic cloves and grind them to a fine paste. You can add a tbsp of water if needed in a blender. If you are using a mortar and pestle you don't need to add water. Set aside
  3. Once softened take out the tomatoes and green chillies from the pot. Set the water aside since we will use it for cooking later. Then carefully peel the skin off from the tomato. Discard the skin. It can be hot so you can either wait for it to cool or use gloves. Once the skin is out grind the boiled tomatoes and the green chillies to a fine paste.
  4. Add the mashed tomato back to the water and add an additional 2 cups water to the pot. Further add in ground turmeric, salt, red chili powder, and stir. Furthermore add in the ground whole spices and garlic. Also add in 1 tsp jaggery. Cover the pot with a lid and cook on medium - high heat for about 7 to 10 minutes. Then turn off heat.
Tempering
  1. In a small pan, add in ghee on medium heat. Once the ghee is hot add in mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, 2 whole dried red chilles, curry leaves and chopped onions. Sauté until onions turn golden. Finally add the tempering to the cooked rasam and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Turn off heat. Top off with finely chopped cilantro leaves and cover. Serve with white rice.

Notes

On a scale of 1 to 5 in terms of spics levels this dish is 3.5, with 5 being high. You can reduce or increase the amount of green chilies or whole dried red pepper depending on your tolerance.