Rasam (Tamil: rassam; Telugu: Chaaru; Kannada: Saaru) is a South Indian soup. It is prepared mainly with the juices of tamarind or tomato with pepper and other spices. Lentils are added frequently and other vegetables optionally. It is eaten mixed with rice, or drunk by itself. In a formal meal, it is followed by the sambar course and is in turn followed by curd rice. It differs from sambar in that it usually relies on tomatoes for its sourness rather than tamarind, and it is usually much thinner. Rasam contains many spices which are considered beneficial to health. History and originsChaaru, in the Telugu language, means “essence,” and, by extension, “juice” or “soup.” In former times, it was prepared mainly with black pepper and tamarind, both ingredients native to and abundant in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and South India in general.Iyengars, a community living in Tamil Nadu from the 7th century CE or earlier, call it Chaathamudhu (Chaaru + Amudhu, the Tamil form of Amrita, ambrosiaSourashtras, an immigrant community living in Madurai from the 16th century CE, still refer to it as Pulichaar (Puli = Tamarind + Chaar) (Puli or Pulipu means tart (tamarind)).The same dish in commonly known as Saaru in Kannada and Chaaru in Telugu. With hoteliers and restaurateurs expanding their joints in South India in the mid-twentieth century, it was popularized and came to be known by its Tamil name as Rasam.Interestingly, rasam is the basis of mulligatawny soup, which is an Anglo-Indian version of the same.Black Pepper Rasam  Ingredients  Black Pepper 10 nos Jeera 1 teaspoon Red Chillies 3 nos Garlic 10 pieces Coconut Powder 1 teaspoon Salt Curry leaves for SeasoningMustard seeds little Tamarind 1 Teaspoon Jaggery 1 Teaspoon  Method   Grind Black pepper, Jeera, Red chillies, Coconut, & 2-3 pieces of Garlic and make into fine paste.  Fry remaining Garlic & add the Paste you prepared  Add Tamarind, Jaggery & Water to the fried Masala  Boil the content for about 15 min  Finally garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with rice.  

Lemon RasamCooked thuar Dhal – 5 tblsp.
(red gram dhal)Crush coarsely:Cumi seeds – 1 tsp
black pepper- 3/4 tsp
turmeric powder – a pinch
chopped coriander and curry leaves – 1 1/2 tbl sp.
lemon – 1 big or 2 small
water – 2 1/2 cups
powdered asafoetida – a pinch
salt, sugar – to tasteMash the cooked dhal to a smooth consistency. Slit green chillies lengthwise. Add all the ingredients( except lemon) together and allow it to boil for a few minutes. Switch off the stove and squeeze the lemon. Heat a tsp of oil and season little mustard to that and pour on top of rasam along with asafoetida. Close with alid and keep aside for few minutes. If served with rice, mix well and serve as it is. To serve this as a soup, strain the rasam using a strainer to remove pepper and cumin and then serve.Lemon Rasam

• 1/4 cup toor dal
• 1 cup water
• a piece of fresh ginger (2 1/2 cm, 1 in), peeled and grated
• 4 green chiles
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 3/4 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• salt to taste
• 2 tomatoes,
• quartered juice of 1 lemon
• coriander leaves, chopped to garnish

For Tempering:

• 2 tsp ghee
• 1 tsp brown mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp asafoetida powder
• 1 red chilly halved
• a few curry leaves

 Wash toor dal well. Drain. Place dal in a heavy saucepan. Cover with 1 cup water and bring to the boil. When boiling, cover pan with a lid, leaving slightly ajar. Lower the heat, and simmer dal gently for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until soft. Stir several times during the last 30 minutes of cooking. (The water should be mostly gone). Set dal aside without draining. Using a mixer, blend the fresh ginger and green chiles into a paste. Now blend or process the cumin seeds and black peppercorns into a powder. Set both aside. Place the undrained cooked dal in a heavy sucepan. Add 1 1/2 cups extra water, ground turmeric, salt to taste, and ginger/chile paste. Slowly bring to the boil. Tempering: Heat 2 tsp ghee in a heavy frying pan or skillet. Add mustard seeds, asafoetida powder, halved red chile, a few curry leaves, and pepper/cumin seed powder. When the mustard seeds splutter, add this mixture to the Rasam. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice. Garnish with chopped coriander. Serve hot with rice.Madras Rasam

• 200g tomatoes
• tamarind – lemon sized soaked in hot water
• 20g garlic
• 4 glasses of any dal stock
• 4 green chilies
• 1 bunch of cilantro and curry leaves
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• Salt to taste

 For rasam powder:

• 20g coriander seeds
• 10g pepper corns
• 5g cumin seeds
• 2 red chilies

Mix the tamarind water with crushed tomatoes and garlic, dal stock, green chilies, turmeric, salt and mix well. Keep aside. Roast the ingredients of rasam powder without any oil and blend to a fine powder. Add this powder to the above tamarind water and mix well. Also add curry leaves, cilantro leaves and boil on heat until bubbles form in the mixture. Remove from heat and serve with steamed rice.Mangalore Rasam(Mangalore is a city in the state of Karnataka)

Tuvar dhal – 1/2 cup.
Tamarind – lime size.
Tomatoes – 2
Green chillies – 1
Rasam Powder – 3 teaspoons p73
Sugar – 2 teaspoon (optional) – 2-1/2 tsp.
Salt – 1-3/4 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
Seasoning
Ghee – 1 teaspoon
Red Chilli – 1
Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon
Black gram dhal – 1/2 teaspoonPressure cook tuvar dhal with one cup of water and a pinch of turmeric powder for ten minutes – when cold, mash well.Soak tamarind in two cups of water for ten minutes, squeeze and strain out the liquid. Boil tamarind water with turmeric powder,slit green chilli, tomatoes (chopped) salt and sugar till the raw smell of tamarind disappears and the tomatoes are cooked. Add the mashed dhal, two and a half cups of water, and the rasam powder and boil for five minutes till slightly thick. Add curry leaves and coriander leaves. Remove from fire.Heat ghee in a pan, add the mustard seeds, red chilli and black gram dhal. When mustard seeds splutter add hing powder; pour the seasoning over the rasam. Serve rasam hot with steaming rice.Dry Neem (Vepambu) Rasam  

• Tamarind – 25 gms
• Toor dal boiled
• Green Chillies – 4
• dry neem flowers – 10 gms
• Salt to taste.

 First boil tamarind water with salt, chillies, mustard powder, asafoetida for 10 minutes. Then add boiled toor dal. When it reaches boiling point switch off. In a kadai put little ghee,/oil, season it with mustard then put dry neem flower, fry a few minutes till it becomes black. Then put it in the rasam.Serve along with Plain Rice or enjoy it as a soup.Pepper Rasam
1 small tomato, chopped into small cubes
1 1/2 tsp peppercorns
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
2 tsp thick tamarind juice
1/2 tsp sugar or jaggery water
1 tsp chopped coriander leaves
A pinch of hing(asoefetida)
Salt to taste
2 tsp ghee(clarified butter)
6 cups of water
Powder the peppercorns in a peppermill or coffee grinder to get a very coarse powder. Mix together the water, tomato, pepper,salt sugar(jaggery) and tamarind juice. Bring it to a boil on a low flame. Season with mustard, hing, curry leaves and cumin in ghee. Garnish with chopped coriander. Eat when hot with plain rice.Pineapple Rasam  

• 3-4 slices of finely cut pineapple
• 1 ripe tomato
• 1.5 tsp rasam powder
• 1/2 cup toor dhal
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp mustard
• 1/2 tsp urad dhal
• 1/4 tsp tamarind paste
• 1.5 tsp salt
• Pinch of asafoetid
• a 2 tsp of oil Few sprigs of curry leaves

 Pressure cook the toor dal with turmeric powder. Mash it well and set it aside. Add the rasam powder, asafoetida, salt and tamarind to about 2 cups of water. Allow to boil until smell of rasam powder disappears. Cut pineapple and tomato to very fine pieces. Add this to the boiling mix. Allow to boil for another 3 minutes. Mash the dhal well and add this to the above mix. Dilute the rasam to the desired quantity with slightly warm water. Allow the rasam to boil until a layer of froth form on top. Remove from fire and set aside. Add oil to a frying pan. Add mustard, toor dal and curry leaves to it. splutter. After spluttering. Pour rasam and mixTomato Rasam Ripe tomatoes – 500 gms
red chillies – 3
fresh coconut, grated- 1 Tblsp.
asafoetida – a pinch
Salt, jaggery for taste.
Oil – 1 Tsp.
mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp.Fry in a little oil and pound coarsely:
Coriander seeds – 1 1/2 Tblsp.
Cumin seeds – 1 Tsp.
Pepper – 1/2 tsp. Chop and grind the tomatoes in a mixer. Strain well to remove seeds and skin. DiIute with water. Add red chillies, crushed ingredients, asafoetida, salt and jaggery. Heat till boiling point. Season with mustard seeds spluttered in oil. Remove from fire and close a lid on it. Just before serving strain well, reheat and then serve hot. Tomato Rasam

• Toor Daal – 1/4 cup
• Tamarind – 1 small
• Tomatoes – 3
• Green Chilly – 2 (broken into 4 pieces)
• Rasam Powder or Sambar powder – 11/2 tsp.
• Asafetida – 1/2 tsp. Oil – 2 tsp. Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp.
• Coriander Leaves – 2 tbsp.
• Curry Leaves – 1 sprig

Pressure-cook the daal for atleast 3 whistle. Remove from the cooker and mash nicely. Add 2 cups of water to it. Chop the tomatoes into small pieces (You can also grind it. Prepare tamarind water by soaking the tamarind in 2 cups of water and squeezing with hand.In a saucepan add the tomatoes, green chilies, tamarind water, asafetida, salt and the rasam/sambar powder. Heat the contents of the pan thoroughly till it boils nicely. The raw smell of tamarind and the sambar powder should disappear. Add the daal water to the pan. Continue heating on low heat till you see small bubbles forming on the top. Switch of the heat. Do not let the rasam boil after adding the daal water. Heat oil in frying pan and add mustard to it. Once it stops spluttering add the curry leaves to it. Add this to the rasam and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with steamed rice .Tomato Rasam (without tamarind) 

• Tomatoes 3 small
• Toor dhal 1/2 cup
• Rasam Powder 1 tsp
• Salt 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
• Cumin Seeds 1/4 tsp
• Asafoetida a pinch
• Curry leaves (one sprig)
• Chopped coriander(some)

 Cook the dhal in 1 cup water. Put the tomatoes in a cup of hot water and cover. After 5 minutes, peel the skin and mash it well. Add 1/2 cup more water, rasam powder, salt, curry leaves and asafetida and boil for 5 – 8 minutes. Add the cooked dhal and dilute with 2 to 2-1/2 cups of water. Boil for some more time. Garnish with the chopped coriander leaves and add spluttered mustard and jeeragam as said earlier.Tomato-Coconut Rasam 

• 500 gms ripe tomatoes
• 1/2 coconut scraped and soaked in 1/2 cup warm water
• a piece of cinnamon
• 2-3 cloves
• 10- 12 whole black pepper
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• a sprig of curry leaves
• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
• asefotida
• turmeric powder
• 2-3 dried red chillies
• salt to taste
• sugar to taste
• ( Optional) 1 tsp oil

Boil tomatoes in enough water to cook them thoroughly with garlic 6 to 8 whole black pepper clove and cinnamon.When cooked cool and puree in a blender. Remove as much milk from the coconut as you can. Heat oil and add the remaining black pepper and cumin.Let it splutter, add red chilli broken in 2-3 pieces,curry leaves,asefotida and turmeric powder.Add the tomato puree and bring it to a boil.Lower the heat and let it simmer for 5/10 minutes. Add salt and sugar.Now add the coconut milk and on low flame let it come to a gentle boil. Drink as a very unsual soup or serve with rice. For the Rasam Powder:
Ingredients:
250 gms Red chilies, 250 gms Coriander seeds, 2 tbsps. Toor dal, 50 gms Jeera, 25 gms Pepper, 1 small piece hing, 1 small bunch curry leaves (dried) and 1 tbsp turmeric powder.
Method:
Dry roast all the ingredients lightly (without oil). Grind to a fine powder and store in an airtight container.Paruppu (Dal) Rasam:
Ingredients:
½ cup toor dal, 1 heaped tsp Rasam powder, 1 lemon size tamarind, 1 bunch coriander leaves, 1 sprig curry leaves, 1 pinch hing, ½ tsp. Sugar and salt to taste.
For seasoning:
1 tsp oil or ghee, ¼ tsp Mustard and ¼ tsp Jeera.
Method:
Cook dal with a little turmeric and keep aside. Extract about 2 cups of juice from tamarind. Add a little more water, salt, rasam powder, hing, sugar and curry leaves to this tamarind water and boil for 5-10 minutes. Add cooked dal and about 1-11/2 cups more of water, and bring to boil and remove from fire. Heat oil. Add mustard seed jeera and pour rasam. Add chopped coriander leaves.Garlic Rasam:
Remove skin from garlic, about 10 to pods. Add to tamarind water. When cooked, add cooked dal and prepare the usual way (as for paruppu rasam)Jeera Rasam:
Required:
1 tbsp toor dal, 3 to 5 red chillis, 1 tbsp. jeera, 1 tsp Coriander powder, 1 small piece hing, 1 lemon size tamarind, 1 small piece dry coconut, 1 pinch haldi, a small piece jaggery and coriander leaves; salt to taste.
For seasoning:
1 tsp oil, ½ tsp mustard, ½ tsp Jeera and 1 spring curry leaves.
Method:
Soak toor dal, red chillis, jeera, coriander powder, hing and dry coconut in water for a few minutes and grind to a coarse paste. Extract juice from tamarind adding water about 2 cups. Add salt, haldi and jaggery, bring to a boil, add the masala paste, and about one to two cups more water, bring to boil and remove from fire. Heat oil. Add mustard, jeera and curry leaves and pour over rasam. Add chopped coriander leaves. (Tomato may also be added to the above rasam)Guttu Rasam:
Required:
1 small lemon sized tamarind, 2 or 3 red chillis, 1 tbsp toor dal, ½ tsp Mustard, ½ tsp. Jeera, 1 piece hing, 1 spring curry leaves, 1 tsp. Oil and 1 small piece jaggery and salt to taste.
Method:
Extract 2 cups of juice from tamarind and keep it aside. Break the chilly into two. Heat oil. Add mustard, jeera, toor dal, chilly, hing and curry leaves. When dal is brown add tamarind juice salt and jaggery. Bring to a boil for a few minutes, add a little more water bring to boil again and remove from fire.Ginger Rasam:
Required:
1 tbsp toor dal, 2.5 cm. to 5 cm. Ginger, 2 or 3 green chillis, 1 lemon, 1 tsp grated dry coconut, ¼ tsp Mustard, ¼ tsp Jeera, 1 pinch hing, curry leaves, 1 small piece jaggery and salt to taste.
Method:
Soak the toor dal in a little water for a few minutes. Grind crushed ginger, dal, chilli, coconut, jeera and hing to a paste. Add about 3 cups of water to this and bring to boil, add in haldi, salt, curry leaves and jaggery. Remove from fire. Heat oil. Add mustard and pour over rasam. Add lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves. (Tomato also may be added, if preferred).

Kottu RasamIngredients:
1. Tomato (Ripen) – 1 chopped
2. Rasam powder – 1 spoon
3. Turmeric powder – 1/4 spoon
4. Tamarind paste – 1/2 spoon or a small ball of tamarind
5. Garlic – 5 flakes slightly mashed
6. Seasoning: Mustard – 1/4 spoon, curry leaves little, hing – a pinch, small red chilli, Methi (fenugreek) – 5 to 6 seeds (Optional), Vegetable Oil – 2 tea spoons
7. Coriander leaves – 5 twigs chopped

Mango RasamIngredients:
1. Dhal – 1/2 cup
2. Tomato (Ripen) – 1 chopped
3. Rasam powder – 1 spoon
4. Turmeric powder – 1/4 spoon
5. Mango (Half ripen) – 3 to 4 pieces
6. Seasoning: Mustard – 1/4 spoon, curry leaves little, hing – a pinch, small red chilli, Methi (fenugreek) – 5 to 6 seeds (Optional), Vegetable Oil – 2 tea spoons
7. Coriander leaves – 5 twigs chopped

Kollu ( Horse Gram) RasamIngredients:Tomato – 2′Ground Kollu ( Horse Gram) – 2 tspCoriander – 1/4 tspPepper – 1/4 tspJeera – 1/4 tspGarlic – 2 clovesSalt to tasteRasam powder – 3 tspChilli powder – 1 tspcoriander leaves Lemon juice – 3 tsp Preparation: Add 2 cups of water in a pan, and add the tomatoes with the ground gram and crush them well, Add the ingredients with coriander seeds ,pepper , jeera ground well together. Let the rasam boil for about 6 minutes in  low medium heatThen finally add the coriander leavesHeat some oil in a seperate pan and add some mustard seeds, with curry leaves ,urud dal , chana dal and asafoetida fry them till the dals turn golden brown to finally add to the rasam.