Vegetable Rasam: Onam Recipe

Rasam is a traditional South-Indian recipe. Also known as Saaru, rasam is a soup that is made with tamarind, vegetables and spices. It is teamed up with sambar and is also a natural medicine to cure cold and cough. You can make rasam sweet or spicy (depending on your likes).

Many people misunderstand rasam with sambar. A sambar is thick in consistency whereas rasam is watery like a soup. There are many ways to make rasam using different ingredients. Tomato rasam, tamarind rasam, plain rasam are few famous varieties. As the festival of Onam is going on, here is a simple rasam recipe that is made using vegetables and has a flavour of more than one kind of rasam.

Mixed vegetables rasam recipe:

Serves: 3-4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients

• Carrot- 2
• Onion- 2
• Potato- 2
• Cabbage- ½ bowl (finely chopped)
• Beans- 2-4 (finely chopped)
• Tomato- 1 (finely chopped)
• Tamarind pulp- 4tbsp (tamarind soaked in water)
• Turmeric powder- 1tsp
• Chilli powder- 1tsp
• Asafoetida/hing- a pinch
• Jaggery- as per taste (not too much otherwise the rasam will become sweet)
• Salt- as per taste
• Curry leaves- 4-6 (washed)
• Water- 4 cups

Procedure

• Boil water in a medium sized deep bottom pan. Add onions, carrot, beans, tomato and potato in the pan and let it cook. When the vegetables become tender, mash them with a spoon. You can even grind them into a smooth paste. Cool the boiled vegetables and then grind them together.
• Heat a deep bottomed pan and add Asafoetida and curry leaves. Mix and then add the boiled vegetables and water. Sprinkle salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, jaggery and tamarind pulp.
• Cook on medium flame for 3-4 minutes till the water thickens a little and the colour of spices are visible. Put the pan off the flame once it is done.

Vegetable rasam is ready. Serve it hot with steamed rice and celebrate Onam. You can also add chopped coriander leaves to garnish the traditional South-Indian dish. Do you know any other procedure to make vegetable rasam? Share with us.