on Feb 28, 2018, Updated Jun 05, 2020
Kerala style food is one of my favorite South Indian cuisines and I keep learning new dishes from this cuisine very often. Some days back, I got a chance to shoot a vegetarian Kerala cookbook. The kitchen and studio were mines so we had the author cooking food in my test kitchen. I shot around 50 dishes in 2 days and the meals after work were extravagant of course. I will share the details of the shoot and the book sometime later but for now, let’s come back to the Kerala Rasam Recipe. This rasam is quite different in flavor than it’s other cousins but as soul-warming as any other version of rasam.
What is Kerala Rasam?
Kerala rasam is an instant rasam made without rasam powder. It is a tomato rasam recipe with dry red chillies, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, curry leaves, tamarind pulp, and coriander leaves. I have also added ginger, garlic, green chilli and hing to the recipe and the taste of coconut oil in which it is made shine in the dish. Here is how to make Kerala Rasam.
Pro Tips by Neha
Use juicy and ripe tomatoes to make this rasam. The firm ones will not become mushy and will come in mouth. Dry roast the spices well. It will give a nice flavor to your rasam. Use only coconut oil to make this rasam recipe in Kerala style. It gives a very peculiar and unique flavor to the rasam. You can make a big batch and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Just reheat some in microwave and use. You might also like Raw Mango Rasam Kerala Style Sambar Kerala Kadala Curry Kerala Garam Masala
Step by Step Recipe
Soak tamarind in ½ cup water and keep aside.
Dry roast whole coriander, black peppercorns and cumin seeds till slightly fragrant.
Grind along with green chili, ginger and garlic to make a coarse powder.
Rasam powder
Heat coconut oil in a pan.
When the oil is hot, add hing, dry red chilies, curry leaves, mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds and fry for a few seconds.
Add tomato and fry for 2-3 minutes, until tomatoes are mushy.
Now add the ground masala and 3 cups of water and cook for a minute.
Squeeze and strain the tamarind and add the water in the pan along with jaggery, salt and turmeric powder. Cook until the rasam just comes to a boil.
