Rasam is a staple in South Indian homes. There are a lot of variations in making the simple South Indian rasam. We make it with dal, without dal, with tamarind, without tamarind, and sometimes with or without tomato, at times we make it with fruits like pineapple, strawberry, orange, and even watermelon. I have recently tasted beetroot rasam during my visit to India. I have been thinking for a while about posting the beetroot rasam recipe in Jeyashris kitchen. This time after tasting it in India, I decided to post this first and shoot the recipe. It turned out so well and we enjoyed the hot beetroot rasam. As the weather is getting very cold, the rasam soothes the throat well. Also check out our Kalyana rasam, Mysore rasam, Pineapple rasam, Nellikai rasam, paruppu urundai rasam
Add 1 cup cubed beetroot, 1 tomato, a tiny piece of tamarind and a few coriander stems in a vessel and add ½ cup of water. In a small bowl add 2 tbsp of toor dal, wash and add a pinch of tamarind and enough water.
Pressure cook these two for 4-5 whistles. Once done take out and discard the skin of tomato. Mash the dal and add 1 cup of water. Keep this aside.
Cool and grind the cooked beetroot mixture into a fine paste. Do not discard the water.
Add the ground paste to a pan and add 1 cup of water. Use the cooked water here. Now add the rasam powder, turmeric powder, and salt to this.
Boil this for 7 minutes on low flame till the raw smell of the rasam podi goes off. Now add the toor dal water.
Mix well and cook till it froths up. When it is about to boil switch off the flame. Add finely chopped coriander leaves and torn curry leaves. In a mortar and pestle add pepper, cumin seeds, chopped green chili, and a few garlic cloves. You can skip garlic if you do not want to. Make this into a coarse mixture. Alternatively, you can pulse this in a mixie too.
In a pan add ½ tbsp of oil and add 1 tsp of mustard seeds. When it starts to splutter, add the pulsed garlic mixture. Saute for a minute.
Add this to the rasam. Flavourful beetroot rasam is ready.
Enjoy this with hot rice or have this as soup.
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