Rasam
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| Alternative names |
Saaru |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | India |
| Region or state | South India |
| Serving temperature | Hot or cold |
| Main ingredients | Lentils, tomatoes, water, tamarind pulp |
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Saaru
Chaaru
Rasam, chaaru, saaru or kabir is a South Indian soup, traditionally prepared using tamarind juice as a base, with the addition of tomato, chili pepper, pepper, cumin and other spices as seasonings. Steamed lentils can be added along with any preferred vegetables. Nowadays, all the seasonings required are combined and ground beforehand into rasam powder, which is available commercially. Chilled prepared versions are also marketed commercially.
It is eaten with rice or separately as a spicy soup. In a traditional meal, it is preceded by a sambar rice course and is followed by curd rice. Rasam has a distinct taste in comparison to the sambar due to its own seasoning ingredients and is usually fluid in consistency.
In Tamil, rasam () means "juice". It can refer to any juice, but rasam commonly refers to soup prepared with tamarind or tomato juice with added spices and garnish. Saaru in Kannada or chaaru in Telugu means "essence" and, by extension, "juice" or "soup". Rasa in Sanskrit means "taste" and "juice"
Rasam is prepared mainly with tamarind or tomato as the base along with cumin, black pepper and dry chilli powder as flavoring ingredients. All of these ingredients are abundant in South India.
Different kinds of rasam are listed below with its main ingredients in the Tamil language:
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Wikipedia