Rasam

the first time i tasted rasam was last december, when i had a banana leaf rice lunch at a curry house. it's spicy and sour, and reminds one of tom yam, except that tom yam isn't packed with spices like rasam.

i had rasam and french toast for dinner last night, and i was pleasantly surprised with the various tastes. all i know is rasam isnt a shy delicate soup. it's bold and seduces you with it's range of tastes of cumin, tomato sourness, chilli and coriander leaves. it's definitely not for those who are not adventurous enough, but then what's the fun in only eating chicken soup or mushroom soup?

recipe for rasam

500g tomatoes, skinned (to do this, boil the tomatoes first and you'll find that the skins come off easily)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder (i roasted and pounded on my own, because the smell is stronger)
2 cm ginger, pounded
1 1/4 litres of water

put everything above in a pot and let it simmer for 15 minutes.

1 cinnamon stick
6 cardamom (i don't like the taste, so i only threw in 1)
1 tsp fennel
6 cloves
1 onion, sliced thinly
a sprig of curry leaves
oil
chopped coriander leaves to be sprinkled

fry the dried spices above until the onion slices are translucent. add into the broth mixture. the recipe calls for adding salt while making broth, but i prefer to add in salt in the end.

serve with chopped corianderleaves.