Whisk Affair › Recipes › Indian › Kerala

Kerala Rasam

By Neha Mathur

3.82 from 11 votes

on Feb 28, 2018, Updated Jun 05, 2020

Kerala Rasam is made using freshly ground spice mix and can be eaten with rice or as a drink. It is super easy and quick to make as well and can be whipped up in all of 15 minutes. Here is how to make it.

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. 

3.82 from 11 votes

Kerala Style Rasam Recipe

By: Neha Mathur

Kerala Style Rasam or Thakali ( Tomato ) Rasam is made using freshly ground spice mix and can be eaten with rice or as a drink. 

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 20 minutes mins

Total: 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

Save RecipeSaved Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe Print Recipe

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 Lemon Sized Tamarind
• ▢ 2 teaspoon Coriander Seeds
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Black peppercorns
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
• ▢ 1 Green Chilli (Chopped)
• ▢ ½ inch Ginger (Chopped)
• ▢ 6-8 cloves Garlic
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Coconut Oil
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Hing
• ▢ 3-4 Dry Red Chillies
• ▢ 10-12 Curry Leaves
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Fenugreek Seeds
• ▢ 1 cup Tomato (Chopped)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Jaggery
• ▢ Salt to taste

Want to save this recipe?

Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you'll get new recipes from us every week!

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Email *

Save Recipe

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions 

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 chilli, ginger and garlic to make a coarse 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.
• 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.
• Switch off the heat.
• Add chopped coriander.
• Serve the rasam hot.

Notes

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 flavour to your rasam.

Use only coconut oil to make this rasam recipe in Kerala style. It gives a very peculiar and unique flavour to the rasam.

You can make a big batch and refrigerate for upto 3 days. Just reheat some in microwave and use.

Nutrition

Calories: 80kcal, Carbohydrates: 10g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Sodium: 45mg, Potassium: 250mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 725IU, Vitamin C: 106.3mg, Calcium: 47mg, Iron: 1.6mg

Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!